HYDRANGEAS AND FALL WEBWORMS
Look
what I found on several of my PG hydrangeas: FALL WEBWORMS!
All of this happens so late in the season that the
impact on your plants is mostly cosmetic. But your plant has been stressed so
treat it well until it goes dormant, making sure it gets watered if dry spells
occur. Do not fertilize but feel free to add compost - that's always a good
thing.
You can look up Fall
Webworms on your favorite search engine to get more details. Look around your
garden. They feed on plants other than hydrangeas and it's likely you have them
somewhere else.
FALL WEBWORMS ON HYDRANGEA PANICULATA
First time in 28 years
these beasties have shown up. Don't know if it's because of our unique summer
conditions, or some other plant that had them and they migrated over, but now
that they are here, what should I do?
The good news is I don't need
to do much. They are practically harmless, although pretty disgusting to look
at and somewhat alarming to view. Here's technically what's going on.
A moth lays some eggs on the foliage during the
summer. Those eggs hatch into worms that then create a cocoon-like web to rear
their young until they are ready to leave the nest.
CLOSE UP OF FALL WEBWORM NEST ON HYDRANGEA
The net of it is you can
just leave it alone and open up the nest with a stick to let the birds feed on
the worms. A second solution is to cut off the stems of
the plant and put them in the trash. If the worms are still
feeding, you could treat organically with Bacillus
thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Bt) sold as Monterey Ready-to-Use spray or Bonide Thuricide. But if the caterpillars are gone,
forget the sprays: the insecticide is useless. I prefer not to use an
insecticide in this case regardless. I like the low-tech approaches of opening
up the webs or removing the stems if there are just a few and I can reach them.