Little green worms eating my roses

16 years ago

This is the third year that my roses have been defoliated! I have tried everything short of explosives and I need help. These worms range from barely visible to a half inch long and are a bright green. Anyone have any suggestions????

Comments (6)

tyler_23
16 years ago
Are they about a cm long growing to about an inch long? If they are I had them on my roses this summer too. I don't know what they are called but they put lots of holes in leaf and flower. I hand-picked them off along with the Japanese beetles. I also happened to have rust, mildew,black spot and a lot of aphids all at the same time. I used a Safer's 3 in 1 pesticide, fungicide and (???icide) and in about two weeks the roses were very happy and very healthy. I don't know of any organic controls for the worms. Seems the season is nearly over so maybe mother nature will take care of your problem. Zone 4 has got to be cold by now.
Cheers,
Tyler.
lmv67
16 years ago
I think they're called sawfly larvae, and there's probably some spray you could use (they're soft bodied so maybe insectidal soap would work?)...but I always just spend a day in spring, picking the darn things off the rosebuds & squishing them dead while muttering imprecations, lol. Works for me!
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stones throw: Perhaps the reason your little green worm infestation has not generated much comment is that the answer seems so obvious: Spray them with something. It does not help that no one knows whether you are in Alaska or Arizona; there are lots of places in zone 6a. Few of us here are entomologists and qualified to identify little worms on the basis of their color, but if they are eating holes in leaves, you want to be rid of them whatever they are. Whether they will need to be controlled each year may depend in part on whether you control them now. Allowing them to have their way is practically guaranteed to increase their numbers. Whether you decide to use a common insecticide or a biological control is up to you. There are several insecticides that would be effective and easy to apply to small trees with a 1-quart trigger sprayer, and they are readily available in the nursery sections of bigbox stores, and most specialized nurseries. Ask the staff what they recommend. Bt is itself a living organism, which takes longer than chemicals to have an effect on caterpillar type creatures, but can also be effective if it is important to you to avoid chemicals of any kind. But Bt has a short shelf life, so make sure the stuff you buy is fresh. Bt cannot be stored and used from year-to-year as its potency quickly degrades. Bt is also most effective when used early in the outbreak of caterpillar infestations. I don't suppose it makes much difference, but it isn't clear from your message whether the trees in question were purchased in 7-gallon pots then planted in the ground, or planted in 7-gallon pots after purchase. If you purchased potted trees from a local nursery, that same nursery ought to be able to advise you on controlling pests of fruit trees. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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Have you seen any worms on yours, boncrow66? Since I've had this problem in previous years without seeing any, I figured it was something tiny or a night feeder and was surprised to actually see of few of them this weekend. I googled green worms on roses before I posted, but really couldn't tell...maybe tobacco budworms...I grow a lot of nicotiana. I always have bug holes in the leaves of my flowers...nicotiana, cleome, angel's trumpet, coneflower, milkweed, etc, but holes in leaves really don't bother me...would prefer bugs/worms don't eat my rose buds, though.
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Probably something like cabbage loppers but I'm not sure. I haven't seen many this year, I think they usually get me worst when the rains come though. Anyway, to control leaf eating caterpillars you want to use BT, bacillus thuringensis. Dipel Dust or Thuricide are products I know of out there for it. Last I tried, Lowes didn't have Thuricide but HD did. Ya mix it up according to the directions and spray the plants well (drawback is you don't want to be straying it during or right before the heat of the day which might leaves you spraying in the dark.) Dipel dust might be easier if you can find it but I haven't found it here in FL. Anyway, the caterpillars have to eat some of it for it to be effective. It is a bacteria specific to the guts of leaf eating caterpillars and it will give them a bad belly ach, they quit eating and eventually die. It requires re-application after rain if the caterpillar problem is still present. There are similar products that attack mosquitoes (mosquito dunks) and I believe there is the milky spore that can be used for the under ground grubs but I've never tried that.) I've used Thuricide and mosquito dunks and they are pretty safe as far as pesticides go. They do not hurt beneficial insects and they are safe enough for use in/around an aquaponics system with fish and bio-filter bacteria. Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx
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I think I too have Sawfly on my English Climbing Roses. It is full of buds almost ready to open and yesterday I noticed something that looked like saw dust all over the buds. Then I noticed the holes in the leaves which I had last year for the first time. I have found that my rose is full of lots of creatures!!! It seems to have Aphids or Spider Mites,Sawfly (looks like a small caterpillar?), and a worm that eats buds. But I also found little tiny green worms under some leaves near the Sawfly. Are these the same things just hatched? I found a different looking green worm on a bud that I squished. I noticed other buds nibbled on near the bottom of the plant. So I ran in and looked up what to do organically. I read that you can use a garden hose to rinse off Aphids and I tried that last night. This morning they were almost all gone. I was able to squish the few left that I could see. I also tried squishing each Sawfly I could find. They look like small Caterpillars as mentioned if it is the same thing. I got about 10-15 of them. I found that where ever the holes are you can find them quickly. Still wondering if I should get Nematodes and Lady Bugs to eat the rest? I had a Gardner tell me Nematodes eat the Sawfly Larvae in the ground and Lady Bugs eat the Aphids. Or I could try the flour or Dawn. I love these roses and want to get rid of this problem for future seasons:(
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myramol
15 years ago
they sound like the same little green worms that i have on my westeria plants, they bed themselves between to leafs and feed on the leaf.. and get big and fat.. about an inch i'd say.. they are a bright green with black heads... there are also wasp and or hornets searching for these little green critters... once the bee gets ahold of it it bites it head off and eats the body... I couldn't believe this when my husband told me what they were doing until he showed me. I was swating the bees away, but now that I know what they are doing on my plants I just let the bees take care of the worms... strange as it sounds...
carolynjohnson_live_com
13 years ago
the little green worms are driving me nuts, i love roses and planted some 3 years ago , but these little green worms are eating them up i have tryed everything, from putting prosin on them to picking them off,and they still on them ,any ideals
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
12 years ago
Identical

Here is a link that might be useful: discussion
thistle
12 years ago
Bacillicus Thuringenus (B.T.) kills the Sawfly Larvae on Roses.I have used it for Years with great success.

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Little green worms eating my roses

Comments (6)

tyler_23

lmv67

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myramol

carolynjohnson_live_com

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

thistle

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