Cathy Isom tells you about the pesky garden critter known for attacking plants from the ground up. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
If you’ve noticed that your garden isn’t thriving like it should, you may have a cutworm problem.
A cutworm is the caterpillar state (or larvae) of a variety of nocturnal moths. These moths don’t usually cause any damage once grown (besides laying more eggs) in your garden. However, their babies tend to wreak havoc on your growing plants. Some of their favorite veggies to feast on include asparagus, cabbage, peppers, lettuce and tomatoes. When cutworms find your crops, they frequently begin by feeding on the stems. They’ll tunnel through them or cut the stem in half at the base.
To keep them away from your veggies, plant sunflowers around the perimeter of your garden. You could also try mixing cornflakes or a bran-based cereal with caterpillar insecticide and molasses. Sprinkle this on the surface of your garden. Cutworms will feast on this mixture and ultimately die.
I’m Cathy Isom…