After spending hours looking for and picking caterpillars off a couple plants last season, and ending up losing some yield to these p.o.s. I decided to to try and find some way to prevent them from ravaging any of my plants this season. I dont use chemicals, synthetic products and try to stay as organic as I can. First thing I did was order a decent bug zapper and hung it in the yard. That thing kills ALOT of moths during the night. During veg, I sprayed some diluted neem oil around and misted the plants once or twice a week. Now that they are in flower i cant spray the neem. I had heard of beneficial predator bugs such as ladybugs for aphids, praying mantis for crickets and grasshoppers and Trichogramma for caterpillar and moth control. I ordered 48,000 eggs. (12,000 eggs on a card x 4) and got them in 2 days. The next day they were hatching. Tiny little wasp like bugs. Pinhead size, several adults can fit on the head of a pencil. But apparently they are on a seek and destroy mission for caterpillar eggs in which they lay their own eggs in. So I have them hung up in plants and around the yard. So to make a long story even longer, has anybody used these and did they do their job. I think i may order more just to keep the cycle going but Im curious as to what you guys use.
I really would like to hear your results…
I have a solution that uses BI and other inhibitors along with nano micelles (Controls the following Pathogens and Insects: Broad Mites, Russet Mites, Spider Mites, Aphids, Thrips, White Flies, Botrytis, Leafhoppers, Powered Mildew, Fusarium, Wilt, Downy Mildew, and other molds / mildews, can be sprayed even in flower, is organic non-gmo and has beneficial side effects (prevents / cures mold (not if tunneling inside the flowers, then it is too late), cleans RESIDUES (like from oils…sorry but I have reached the point where I consider them TOXIC)…without touching or reducing THC
The issues on caterpillars is they can destroy a plant almost overnight…
I have also heard that a sound generator is being worked on that will interfere with the mating cycles and that can prevent eggs from ever being laid but that is in the future
Oh man, talk about lagging. Lol sorry to take so long posting my results with the Trichogramma. Ok so at harvest time which was early october I can successfully say that I did not find 1 caterpillar at harvest. I increased the amount of eggs to 100,000 every other week. It may have been overkill but its only $29 and it worked. Also the bug zapper helped quite a bit also. You could hear it zapping moths all night long. I also sprayed some neem oil around the yard near my plants but not directly on them. So 6 plants yielded 5.6 lbs of dried flower + no caterpillar = success!
thanks for that response. I wondered if the wasp eggs would work and now I KNOW!
Might even help my tomato plants from the hornworms
Oh no problem. Sorry I took so long. Im on so many different sites reading about shit. Sometimes I forget. But YES I highly recommend them. Order through NaturesGoodGuys.com They are all about beneficial insects. Ive ordered several times with them and only had 1 order where the eggs hatched early and many were dead when I received them. (FedEx delivered 2 days late. I emailed them and they sent a replacement eggs 2 days later. And yes, they will definitely help your tomatoes. And the cool thing is they are so small you cant even tell if they’re in your yard.