Bad catepillar, Bad

[chibae]

At the moment i am feeling extremly ANGRY towards a certain Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. in one of my barrel bogs i have been growing some Sarracenia flava v, ornata. I have nurtured these plants for three years hoping to finally obtain some seed this year to distribute to other growers. The older plant has four flowers, the younger HAD only one. My goal had been to use the pollen from the younger plant to fertilize the flowers on the older plant. Well I came home from Fell's Point Privateer Days and Pyrate Invasion to find the single flower on the younger plant in shreds. The typical "upside down umbrella" portion that holds the pollen gone. The pollen sacks empty. And a very fat and satisfed green pillar still munching away.

In the past i have bagged my sarr flowers to prevent cross pollenation but so far only the ornata's had opened so i hadn't done so. This is the first time I have ever lost a sarr flower this way.

 

[Heli]

wow that sucks I know how you feel, the same thing happened with all my sarr flowers today!

 

[cool85k5]

Sorry to hear that.Those caterpillars can really mess up you plants.

 

[DavyJones]

I was hoping to do the same with my S. oreophila this previous year, until we had a springtime hail storm which shredded every flower I had. There's always next year!

 

[lawdy]

Kill it with fire!

Can't speak to arthropods, but my arch-nemesis, slugs/snails, HATE dry sand on top of the soil and won't cross it. It might annoy catepilllars as well and give you a little more peace of mind, who knows?

 

[chibae]

Kill it with fire!

Can't speak to arthropods, but my arch-nemesis, slugs/snails, HATE dry sand on top of the soil and won't cross it. It might annoy catepilllars as well and give you a little more peace of mind, who knows?

Good idea except I've worked hard over the year to have the barrel bog have actually live sphag growing on top..the dry sand would not go well there.

 

[thez_yo]

Whenever I had caterpillars munching my pygmy dews and other things - omg when I caught them they went on to create 'minty fresh' pitchers!!!

 

[Millipede]

minty fresh?

 

[Dexenthes]

Put a toad in the barrel.