Moths

[bananiem]

We just landscaped over the weekend. Whenever I water the plants a few moths will fly out of the base of each plant. At our last house we had a caterpillar problem and now I'm wondering if the moths are laying eggs there.
Are the moths harmless or should I be "encouraging" them to go somewhere else?

 

[perdidobay]

I'd like to know the answer to this also!

 

[nocnurse]

Take a look! The eggs will be on the underside of the leaves if they're there. When I find them, I just squish them. Or if I miss the eggs I look for chewed leaves and squish the little caterpillars.

 

[bananiem]

But there's 50 plants in this one retaining wall!!! Is there anything I can spray or put down to deter the moths? (Instead of crawling through the retaining wall on my hands and knees with my butt in the air! ) We've only done this one section so far, it's a new house. But I have the other side, entire backyard and the rest of the one side yet to landscape. I can't imagine having to hand inspect every plant every time I water.

 

[nocnurse]

BT is a safe nontoxic treatment for most caterpillars There are different brands. Just look for BT or Bacillus Thuringi.... something or other as the active ingredient. Anyway my point is don't spray anything if you don't need to. These poisons kill the butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and all the other good guys in the garden. They're also not good for frogs, toads, and regardless what the chemical corp. say, people. If you see damage to the plants, OK spray. Don't just spray because you can.

 

[bananiem]

I was kind of hoping for a more organic method. Would whole or crushed up moth balls hurt the plants? I also wonder if they wouldn't just disintegrate when I water. I use watered down tabasco to keep cats, rabbits and deer away from my plants. Would that deter moths?

 

[nocnurse]

BT is organic! it is a bacteria which is toxic to caterpillars but completely safe to people. The other stuff can't hurt (except moth balls. they're quite poisonous) so go ahead and give it a shot, although tabasco etc is usually more effective against creatures with taste buds.