What is the name of the product you used?
(Systemics are seldom, if ever, used for caterpillars.)

Bt (Bacillus thuringiiensis) is often used for caterpillars. It's applied to the leaves and must be ingested by the critters.

Hmmm -

It was Bayer All-In-One Rose and Flower care.
No good?

H

Hmmm -

It was Bayer All-In-One Rose and Flower care.
No good?

H

Well, the online promo says the granular form can be used if the target is caterpillars. But I don't see any of the active ingredients deal w/ cats.

To tell the truth, entomologists say it's best to use a material that's specific for the pest at hand rather than a multi-use combo.

That's what I get for listening to the Garden Center people, I guess. I'm going back there tomorrow for some BT I think. Really sad looking bed out there....

Wish I knew where these things flew in from. 30 years without a spec of trouble. Then....

H

This post was edited by Hoib on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 0:03

Hoib, not so fast!
The product contains
Tebuconazole a fungicide.
Imidacloprid an insecticide.
The insecticide is absorbed through the plant roots, and carried to all parts of the plant in the sap. It will kill chewing and sucking insects ,,, eventually.
Bt has to get on to the insect and then into its digestive tract. "unfolded a curled up dried leaf," suggests that the insect is well protected at this time against this product.
My opinion is that the Garden Center sold you the more effective insecticide. From what you describe, the plants will benefit from the fertilizer application because they will stimulate growth and that all important sap flow.
The fungicide maybe would be useful.
I think that you have done the best you could.
The progression of the condition suggests that, by this time, there is a large circular area of plants which are not recoverable so it is not useful to treat them.
Concentrate on the outer ring of and beyond. There are plants in there that are salvageable.
If you consider that you are growing these plants for appearances only, then they do not serve their purpose and should be replaced.

OK, another comment well worth reading. Thank you. I think I will visit them again today anyway. If not to buy the BT but to perhaps show what this is looking like. I took pictures with my camera phone too. I did treat the entire area - all 35 feet of the rectangle. I would say this morning, I still have a patch of still green plants at the far extremities. I'd like to bring in a few more samples of the damaged plants and get an expert view of whether there's any hope of saving. As I said, these plants are very hearty and no matter how I've mistreated them, they always come back. Will I still have this "luck"?

I'll post back with the results.

Thanks again.

Hoib

Probably a Leaftier caterpillar, not uncommon to pachysandra. Be sure to get the Bt for caterpillars. Read the label to make sure.

"Imidacloprid an insecticide. "

The facts:
- Relatively slow to be taken up by the plant.
- when it does get into a perennial plant, it is long-lived.
- Moves into pollen and nectar.
- Implicated in declines of honey bees & other pollinators

In the case of the pachysandra demise, I think the evidence is that it's NOT all that amazingly great for use against caterpillars.

OK, I'm back from a good conversation with the Garden Center. Talked to Brett, a man I know at the yard whom I consider to be an expert.

He said that the BT product is too slow acting for our area of the country and that the Bayer treatment was the best course of action. Because the Bayer product has already done its job, BT isn't worth it. He added that this year, these inch-worm cats are more widespread and more intense than years in the past throughout the seacoast. How do they get there? There's literally no way to tell. Some say they're wind borne, others say they come in via birds or other critters that carry the eggs.

I told him that after the Bayer went down, I saw scores of these cats climging up the side of the house. They were not moving and very lethargic. The next day, all of them had disappeared without me doing anything to them. In his experience, they are cyclical, that is, they'll probably not be seen again for a number of years. From my description, he indicated that they're probably all done for the season. But keep the Bayer product handy just in case.

He looked at my fresh clippings plus my camera photos. He said these plants have a very good chance at coming back as evidenced by their supple stems and wet/sappy interiors and it wouldn't be a bad idea to feed them again. Give them some time and check them in two-three weeks. He's pretty sure I'll start seeing some buds. Then I'll know that I'm on the return path.

So that's my report. I'm just going to sit and wait for nature to take its course. And listen to my friend Brett. He's the best!

Hoib

Update: After two weeks, I have NEW GROWTH!!!
Yes, bunches and bunches of small green leaves are beginning to show on about 90% of the damaged plants. The bed still looks horrid but there's light at the end of the tunnel here, good people!

Should I fertilize again?

Hoib