![]() Paper collars can stay in place until they break down. The collars should be 2 to 3 inches tall and pushed firmly into the soil or the cutworm can’t go over or under. Surround tender transplant stems with collars of folded newspaper, cardboard strips or aluminum foil.But the “seek and destroy” mission must be regular or the cutworms will increase in number because they are being fed. ![]() Plant sunflowers as a trap crop around the perimeter and hunt and kill cutworms daily.Keep a 3- or 4-foot strip of dry soil with no plants around the entire perimeter so the garden is unattractive to enter.Mow up to the edge of the garden so cutworms have less to feed on surrounding the garden.The smart gardener will seek to block their requirements. Cutworms are seeking shade, plant debris, damp soil and tender stems. A gardener might try one or multiple techniques to lessen plant losses. Photo credit: Clemson University – USDA Cooperative Extension SlideĬutworms can be controlled with several non-pesticide solutions. Some directly seeded plants, like green beans, can also be clipped off.Ĭutworm larva and damage. These stems get tougher with age and growth. New transplants have tender stems, especially if they have just been put into the garden. ![]() During the day, cutworms hide in plant debris and wait for the evening’s banquet. A cutworm curls its body around the stem and feeds on it, cutting it off at just about the soil surface. Some cutworms feed at night at the soil line, some feed just below the soil, and some climb into the plant and feed there. ![]() The adult moths do no damage – the larvae do. If larger animal pests were the bad guys, the entire plant would be missing.Ĭutworms are the larval or juvenile form of several kinds of night-flying moths. They live up to their name and are the guilty party. The list of usual suspects is short: cutworms. This statement, or a variation of it, is often heard across Michigan in the spring when newly transplanted vegetable plants or tender seedlings are coming up in the garden. The stems were cleanly cut off on a diagonal just above the soil line.” “I walked out to my vegetable garden this morning and four small tomato transplants were just lying on the ground. ![]()
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