Jananas Bananas

This is a Dwarf Puerto Rican. Just a beautiful plant! The new leaves coming out were just perfect. Red edged leaves, faint pink splotches on the newest leaves, such a beauty. Well this morning, I found a stupid caterpillar chowing down on the leaves. It has eaten a couple of holes in the newest cigar leaf through several layers, besides munching on all the others but one. It was black with a pale yellow stripe, probably some sort of butterfly - but I didn't care. I picked it off and chunked it as far as I could throw it (sorry I didn't get a picture of it). I am used to the caterpillars eating my passion vines, but this is a first on my bananas (not the same kind). OK, here is where I need the help. This is an edible plantain and I don't want to use any poison on it so what should I use? Since I found one I will probably find more and I want to be prepared. If this is a butterfly caterpillar I would rather not kill if if I can help it.









Thanks! ~JaNan

__________________
Jananas Bananas

sunfish

Is this the one ?

Eastern Tent Caterpillar, - Google Search

Bob

Get some BT ( Bacillus Thuriengensis..... ( sp?) ) at your garden Center. Ask for a product containing it. Its natural... non toxic to us ... and gives caterpillars a stomach ache and they dont eat and die...

__________________

LilRaverBoi

As far as poison/killing the caterpillars go....you must make a choice: the health of your plant....or....

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Jananas Bananas

Tony, it isn't that one thank goodness. It is smooth. I tried to google it without success. I doubt I would have picked it off and chunked it if it had been fuzzy because we have stinging asps around here.

Bob, I will be going to get some of that stuff!!!! Sounds like a good choice to me. I will write it down and show it to them so I can be sure and get the right stuff. I just bought some diatomaceous earth and I think I will sprinkle that around too.

Doc, I have a lot of flowering plants which attract hummingbirds (had the first one of the season on Thursday) and butterflies which is intentional. Since I tossed it so violently, my choice, if I must, would be my banana plants.

Have any of you guys had any problems like this? This is a first for me and I have had bananas for about 10 years!

__________________
Jananas Bananas

raggedyredhead

Hi, I use Spectricide in my vegetable garden. It is safe for same day harvest. Then there
is the old beer in a bowl trick. This is one for slugs. Don't know if it works on catepillars
They crawl in and drown. Sorry but I have no mercey when it comes to my plants. Hope this helps. Good Luck!!!
Raggedy

Abnshrek

I have katopa caterpillars that look simular to what you describe. I sorry this happened to you. I know why I have chickens now.. They eat all the grubbs I dig up, and all the catepillars I find in the yard. I do believe 7 dust will keep them away from all your banana's :^)

__________________


I'm a Nannerhead :^)

Dean W.

I have a mocking bird that takes care of most of them for me.

__________________

alexizhere19

I'll never have this problem cause I obsessively check my plants, look it grew a quarter millimeter, lol.

alex

__________________




woo woo woo in the county jail

just a good ole boy never meanin no harm

Velutina

I would just monitor and treat if it becomes a serious problem.

__________________
Adam

Scott

I'm with Alex...check my plants 4 - 10 times a day.
Go natural with the snail stomach acke. I like that plant.

ABNSH: Do your chickens ever pick at your banana plants?

__________________

Gabe15

I know its very upsetting, I've been there too on the hobby side babying my plants along and being concerned over every little thing, but from a practical point of view, it has no real effect on the plant.

This caterpillar may have eaten a bit of the leaves and made it look a little beat up for now, but as the plant grows the amount of damage that most insects can do to the whole plant is minimal.

Be thankful you don't have to deal with insects that cause real problems with your bananas such as BBTV carrying banana aphids which can force you to destroy all of your plants, or corm weevils which slowly kill the plant.

Worst than almost any insect damage is pigs. Almost everyweek, there is a pig that comes by and eats all of the leaves of this one banana plant I have, preventing it from getting any taller in the nearly 5 months its been in the ground. It can never hold enough leaves at any time to really grow any more, but it's managed to keep about 2 now so it's picking up speed. I also sprayed it with neem oil a lot and it seems to have deterred the pigs....either that or they were just happy with the over 100 sweet potato plants they dug up and ate last week! Pigs are also known to dig up whole banana plants and eat the corms, but thankfully they haven't tried that yet with my plants.

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Jananas Bananas

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I really appreciate it.

I have a lot of birds here; barn swallows that are nesting on the porch, mockingbirds, turtle doves, sparrows, cardinals, grackles, and an occasional hawk and owl, to name a few. I guess they just missed this one stinking caterpillar.

And I also have a hen, I had three chickens - she had two little chicks, but something got them so I only have her right now. She likes digging in my old compost pile.





~JaNan

__________________
Jananas Bananas

sbl

I just wanted to add a little to Bob's suggestion of BT (Bacillus thuringiensis). It is a bacteria that is effective on all larvae of butterflies or moths, but is harmless to all other animals (although I think there is a version that is used for mosquitos).

In general, it is good to avoid pesticides that might kill beneficial insects, so using a bacteria that has a narrow target range is always a good idea.

Abnshrek

This is very true Pigs around my banana's was (devistating) the primary reason they didn't get so tall last year.. well couple for sure.. I've seen them eat corms and all on a couple occasions I would treat my guys (wilbur & templeton) to a basjoo or 2 when I thinned them out.

Chickens are a close second, if they can get to the leaves. Mine cannot (this year) (my kiwi took the setback this year); the banana's are safe in wire cages (Just in case they get out) :^)

__________________


I'm a Nannerhead :^)

TommyMacLuckie

I don't mind if caterpillars chomp on my plants - bananas included. I do mind, with assassinistic exception, to Devil's Horses chomping on anything I have and I kill all of them with WD40 no matter the size. The first hatching came out 2 days ago and they are now dead.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1264/...b5bf5f7662.jpg

http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/w/wh/whitnes...vils_horse.jpg

Kevin

I've never heard of grasshoppers being called Devil's Horses before!!

Lagniappe

Cool!! Here's the one I'm throwin' now:
http://www.usbass-tn.com/image/47610...ed_451x553.jpg
I didn't know they were named for those big ol' grashoppers.

BTW, I have caterpillars that only eat my Maurelii. They only go after the 1-2 footers though, and cause a lot of damage. The leaves are replaced quickly enough, but [the caterpillars] will kill the plant if I leave them on there to eat each roller that emerges.

Bananaman88

I had some Io moth larvae do a number on one of my bananas a couple of years back. Your banana should recover quickly. As Gabe said, it may look bad but the long term damage is minimal.