If you have the boxwood caterpillar in your garden, you will recognize this from the damage you can cause. On closer inspection, you should discover densely woven web and small granular, black balls underneath. This is caterpillar! The boxwood borer caterpillar is probably protected in this web between the leaves. There are some efficient methods with which you can combat the boxwood borer, and we will show you how you can get rid of the pests in a very short time. Because untreated, they finally kill the plants.
Recognize the pests
How can you recognize boxwood borer? This is relatively easy if you know what to look out for. The obvious signs are the nibbled leaves. The eggs and freshly hatched larvae can be removed by cutting out, the eating caterpillars are easily caught by spraying or a strong beam from the water hose. To understand when which measure works, you have to know your enemy: eggs, caterpillars and moths of the boxwood borer appear in a very specific order and in 2 to 3 generations per year.
Combating methods
To a certain extent, the pests can be kept in check with tricks and tricks. We recommend that you primarily use environmentally friendly control methods because you protect both your health and nature in this way.
Boxwood borer fight with home remedies
You can fight the moth organically. The use of low-dosed neem oil sprays is a possible option. The spray fluid must be applied regularly and, thanks to the ingredients, also acts as an effective deterrent. Sheholds the mothsSimply distance with an unpleasant smell. So that these means can reach the caterpillars at all, however, a very special formulation of the spray broth that contains adhesives and source agents is required. If the boxwood borer infestation is low, it is worth collecting the caterpillars and cutting off the affected parts.
Packing the entire boxwood into a network can help not to have the egg laying takes place at all - but it blocks the view of the beautiful shrub. If you want to quickly reduce a strong infestation, it is also helpful to use a high -pressure cleaner to throw a large part of the caterpillars out of the branches. Or they pack individual box trees in black plastic bags and let the sun heat the interior so much that hardly a pest leaves the shrub alive. We would like to advise against the use of baking powder and algae lime, because these means are ineffective or even harmful to your boxwood. After all, the promotion of birds and wasps is also in theirGarden a preventive measure. These eat the moths (possibly even the caterpillars) and thus plaster part of the problem.
Insert pheromon traps
It can prove to be effective to reduce the number of caterpillars if you target the source. The boxwood base trap works by attracting the male moths with a female boxwood borer pheromone. The male moths in the trap have no chance of continuing. A semi -filling of the trap with water and a splash was an effective way to ensure that the male moths can no longer fly. The pheromon traps act as an early warning system, which shows when the male boxwood borer is active and a new brutz cycle will begin. This is a good time to spray your boxwood and hedges.
Biologically combat boxwood borer
Biological sprays based on the bacterium bacillus thuringiensis are most effective against caterpillars.When a caterpillarA boxwood sheet treated with the biological spray eats, will soon stop eating and has disappeared after a few days. Other insects are not affected by the biological insecticide, since it only affects the caterpillars that the treated leaves eat.
Birds are not damaged if they eat the dead caterpillars. Are you wondering when you have to inject? Apply the biological insecticide as soon as you see caterpillars or start to fill your pheromone traps with male boxwood bumbers. The treatment is only effective for about 10 days because it is broken down by UV light. Therefore, you may need to apply the fund several times if the caterpillars are active.
A simple method: threadworms
Nematodes are tiny worms that are mixed with water and applied to the boxwood plants with a watering can, hopefully they come into contact with the caterpillars. The nematodes may be small, but they use the bodies of the caterpillars for multiplication until there are no left. This is a simple and environmentally friendly method with which you can combat boxwood borer. Nematodes must be applied in the right way in order to be effective. They are sensitive to the UV and should therefore be applied in the evening. Avoid dry periods becauseMoisture conditionsare helpful and keep the temperature in the eye. If the temperature falls below 12 ° C, the nematodes no longer work. Nematodes cannot be stored well. You can be kept in the fridge for 4 weeks, but it is best to order them only if you know that you have time to carry out the treatment.
Fighting boxwood borer: collecting handicrafts
Picking up the caterpillars by hand and “disposing” is the best way to control their number. But it is also the most time -consuming. Letting the caterpillars fall into a bucket with water is a good way to say goodbye to you when the thought of crushing it off.
