What's your question? Ask

Garden Pest Control

Q.Bacillus thuringiensis

Zone 07016 | Anonymous added on August 13, 2017 | Answered

Regarding your webpage about pickleworms, the last sentence in the article says that Bacillus thuringiensis won’t work once the caterpillars are inside the plant tissues, it’s too late for treatment, so spray early and spray often. But I’ve read that BT is systemic, so won’t it kill the bugs even if they are inside?

What Are Pickleworms: Tips For Treating Pickleworms In Gardens

A.Answers to this queston: Add Answer
Downtoearthdigs
Answered on August 14, 2017

This fact sheet from the National Pesticide Information Center mentions that different types of Bt are engineered to affect different types of insects. The kind of Bt that is effective on pickleworms targets the larvae. Because pickleworms lay their eggs directly on the foliage of a plant, it's important to spray the Bt "early and often" as the article says, so that the pesticide can kill the larvae BEFORE they mature enough to tunnel into the flowers, vines and fruits.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/BTgen.pdf

You may also find this fact sheet on pickleworms from the University of Tennessee helpful:

https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W206.pdf

Was this answer useful?
00

Log in or sign up to help answer this question.

Did you find this helpful? Share it with your friends!

You must be logged into your account to answer a question.

If you don't have an account sign up for an account now.

Looking for more?
here are more questions about...
Garden Pest Control
Join Us - Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips!

Do you know a lot about gardening?
Become a GKH Gardening Expert

OK