If you ’ve ever stepped into your garden in the break of day 60 minutes and strike flower buds missing from your geranium , zinnias , marigold or snapdragon , your head might first stumble onto deer orgroundhogsas the culprit , but if there are no leaves or flora shoots miss — just flower buds — it ’s more likely that geranium budworms ( Heliothis virescens ) are to blame . These persistent little plague are also quite fond of nibbling petunia petals into tag and eat the buds right off of portulaca and mistflower plants , too .
What Are Geranium Budworms?
Geranium budworms are the caterpillars of a nocturnal moth . They ’re also known as tobacco plant budworms because of their fondness for the bud oftobaccoplants . Adult moths are unaccented brownish with three dark bands across their wings . The adults do n’t harm garden plants and are often preyed upon by bats . Their caterpillars , however , do it to feed on the developing buds of many different flower and veg , including those listed above . The caterpillars can be yellow , dark-green , brown , pinkish or even maroon , depend on their age and their food origin .
Here in Pennsylvania , geranium budworms were once a very rare pest . Like many other pesterer sensitive to stale winter temperatures , geranium budworms would only migrate this far northward toward the tail ending of a ardent , long summertime . I would occasionally see one or two in late August or September , but rarely earlier in the season . However , over the past five or so long time , there ’s grow evidence that the geranium budworm ’s range is expanding northward . By the time mid - summertime rolls around here in Pennsylvania , I set out to chance the caterpillars and evidence of their damage . That ’s about a month and a one-half earlier than before .
How Do Geranium Budworms Damage Plants?
Geranium budworm caterpillars tip primarily at night . During the day they can be found hiding along plant stems and leaf undersides , but if you go out to the garden at night with a flashlight , it ’s easygoing to spot them nibbling on the blossom of master of ceremonies flora .
When geranium budworms are present in your garden , you ’ll first notice holes in blossom bud or buds that die to unfold or go missing wholly . When the caterpillars are small , the damage is little , too , but as they grow , they ’re able to “ mar ” more and more plants per night .
How to Prevent Geranium Budworm Damage
To prevent geranium budworms , do not implant their best-loved plants . Find substitutes , if potential . For example , plant less - susceptible ivy geraniums instead of zonal geraniums or grow Million Bells ( Calibrachoa ) alternatively of regular petunias . Livingstone daisies are a great backup for portulaca .
Handpicking cat at night is efficient , but also meter have . Though they ’re very problematic for commercial growers , geranium budworms seldom cause all-embracing damage in home gardens .
If you do find they ’re decapitate your annual flowers and handpicking is n’t effective or potential , organic pesticides based on Bt ( B thuringiensis ) will belt down the caterpillars as they prey on sprayed foliage , without effecting pollinator and other beneficial insects .
Geranium budworms are more of a nusance than anything else . They very rarely outright kill a plant , but they certainly do regard flower production and aesthetics .
