Prof. M.. they're back

[Karl F]

winter moth catepillars, raining down on me this AM, whilst I was out playing in the dirt..(yardwork) this AM.. they defoliated me last year.. How are they your way?

[Raven]

for him it's like Alfred Hitchcock's
the birds

don't get him goin

[Karl F]

or....maybe the Prof. got rid of them, or just sent them here. trees are about 2/3 defoliated now here, and the worm poo is deep on every flat surface.. walk thru their "webbing" everywhere in the yard too. chainsaw looks like only reasonable solution.

[nightfighter]

Same here Karl. Got white vehicles under the tree too..... Hate 'em

[ProfessorM]

terrible Karl. Been eating everything for 2 weeks now. My oaks look like crap. I just pray no gypsy moths as that double whammy will probably kill them for sure. They can't take this year after year. I am really thinking of taking a couple down. I have one with a canopy of a 1/4 acre right over my house. Beautiful white oak. It would be real hard getting used to that being cut down but the mess is really getting old. Probably at least 3 years of wood in that one. Trunk is 25 feet of straight timber. A boat builders dream. At least the winter moths are early eaters and the trees should be able to leaf out, I hope. Sucks though, real bad.

the problem is this crap weather. They get in the bud and start there. If we have warm sunny weather the buds pop out quick and the pillars don't have enough time to do complete damage but this cool damp cloudy weather keeps the buds closed and thus they get to stay in there eating a lot longer. Spraying is too darn expensive. All my apples and pears are ruined. Blueberries are borderline ruined. Really getting hard to raise anything. The fruit buds can't be sprayed with insecticide as the little pillars are inside the bud and thus unattainable. Dormant oil can help a little but this weather spells doom for them. Buds stays closed longer pillars do massive damage. Depressing.

[Duke41]

I have Tree Tec spray in the spring. But the weather is not right for spraying and my trees are getting hammered. A tough situation. The birds are loving it though. The robins are so fat they can hardly fly. They all have beer bellies.

[Raven]

good to know about the robins eating them

i have so many robins they are a nuisance

those caterpillars don't stand a chance around here.

[Slingah]

trees are bad......

[cheferson]

You guys try getting some BT and spraying them down? Natural , and doesn't harm beneficial insects or mammals .

[ProfessorM]

Originally Posted by cheferson

You guys try getting some BT and spraying them down? Natural , and doesn't harm beneficial insects or mammals .

BT does works good but to get it into a 70 foot tree you need comm. type sprayers and add wind and your neighbors don't spray and they just fly along in the wind on webs of silk into your yard. Just plain sucks. Small trees with hand sprayers are ok that way. The comm. guys are probably using a combo of BT and some other stuff. I just hope gypsy moths are not bad this year as they would be just starting.

[leo33]

same problem here.they have destroyed one oak so bad that you would swear the leaves never bloomed.i don't think it can take it anymore.

[ProfessorM]

not much on truck today and oaks have leafed back out so i guess it is pretty much over here. Don't think gypsy moths will be a problem this year here. If you got gypsy's after the winter moths it sucks to be you. I have seen gypsy moths eat lawns after they have eaten all the pine trees which is after they already had eaten all the oaks. I really hate them and their crap is even worse than winter moths. I have had the gutters overflowing the sides with crap.