Brugmansia safe pest control

Hello

My brugmansia has a pest and I'm hoping someone can give me info on a safe way to kill/control the critters.

The pest is what looks like a small green caterpillar and theres a good number of them, when I disturb the leaf I can see them drop off.

I'm new to Brugs and dont want to use a spray that will damage the plant, the person I purchased of (ebay) included an info sheet that advised not to use a pyrethrum based treatment ?

Can someone name a few safe (from experience) treatments

Please

 

Squish them!ive had clusters of them on my cannas this week
I will re check my brugs though,thanks

 

When disturbed does it wriggle its ass off at 100mph and are you finding leaves rolled up with what looks like silk?

 

Not found brugs particularly sensitive to sprays.
I dont think anyone uses pyrethrum on caterpillars anyway.,

Just get something that says it kills catterpillars.

 

Thanks for the replys people

Definitely small green caterpillars

Had a good 'Squishing' session this afternoon, found that with the plant on a bench and me crouching down and looking up most of the critters were silhouetted and killable. However also noticed that some of them did drop out of site and that egg clumps were visible so still looking at spraying.
From the when purchased included info I was thinking that brugs were maybe a bit sensitive regards types of spray but your saying Pete that any spray will do ? something like Provado Ultimate Bug Killer maybe - which was suggested on a google search result

Unless someone says different I'll get the Provado tomorrow - and have a test spray

 

I would just check again tomo and do more squishing, they are only babies at the moment so easy to to kill but caterpillars can be problem sometimes on brugs all season and me personally i would rather just check my leaves daily than spray with a product to many times
Last yr in aug i was out in the dark with a torch removing caterpillars,a pain but a 10 min job,also brugs seem to produce leaves so fast it was easy to pull the leaf of and stomp it

 

If you have bought it (i.e. unknown source) recently and it has bugs already then I would assume they came with it and I would spray it (unless it has flower buds big enough that it is obviously going to flower in the next couple of weeks, as the spray would linger and could kill beneficial pollinators) to sanitise it for anything else, unwelcome, that hitched a ride - least they spread to other plants in your garden.

Brugs suffer from Capsid Bug too, which eat the insides of the bugs, and then the leaves open like Swiss Cheese, so Provado would take care of those too (I think??)

 

For the first time I have taken to spraying all my inside plants with Provado, on a regular basis. In the past I only sprayed after I found I had a problem. It started when I found aphids on plants that I was overwintering. The plants were all crammed in so closely (including 36 Brugs) that it was easy for any bugs to jump from one plant to another.

Provado is systemic - that is to say it stays inside the plant for several weeks giving protection, as opposed to just killing the bugs directly. So far I haven't had any problems since.

 

Instructions say max repeat spraying of 4x per year. Dunno why that would be though?

I've been spraying my Lilies at 2 week intervals ... probably about 4 applications already ... so what now, for the rest of the season?

 

I've waited for a result before replying - did they die - - pest or/and plant

The finger squishing was quite therapeutic but didn't remove the little green 'things' next morning I found more.
So I purchased Provado Ultimate Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer sprayed the Brugs and anxiously awaited result.
Next morning green monsters nil , Brugs still standing.
The damage to the Brugs from the caterpillars isn't good, lost a few leaves. The caterpillars nibbled the underside of the leaf and the damage doesn't show immediately. Am now waiting for new growth to restore the plants to their former glory.

And have just this evening found a Red Lily Beetle on my Lily's (now a dead Beetle) but at least I've now got a spray that will fettle them

 

I must read the labels a bit more - I don't remember seeing the comment about a max of 4 sprayings. The people who really know about bug control are the commercial nurseries and garden centres. They can't afford to have infestations. I understand that they spray on a very regular basis.

Well done Graham. This finger squishing idea is all well and good - but it doesn't get the ones you can't see. Unfortunately, I think spraying is the only answer.

 

I can see the need for a max-application-per-CROP for edible stuff ... but any idea why for Ornamentals? If it is going to kill the plant that's pretty scary! but maybe it is a blanket cover-all for protection for Bees or somesuch to just get amateurs to use "less" in the environment? (in that case wouldn't it be better to say not to use immediately prior to, and during, flowering?)

Hmmmm ... I wonder if it is an attempt to prevent "continuous" use which might allow resistance to develop in the bugs?

 

That thought had passed through my mind - but I doubt that its the company executives first priority. As they are strong chemicals, I suspect its more a matter of protecting their own backsides. If anyone suffers from inhaling the spray - its their own fault for not following the instructions.

It reminds me of the cockroach killer, that was expensive but absolutely guaranteed to work every time if you followed the instructions. The kit consisted of two pieces of wood - one marked A and the other B. The instructions said place the cockroach on block A and hit with block B. Guaranteed to work every time, if you follow the instructions.

 

I've been talking the farm manager where I work, he's responsible for quite a few acres of apples and pears.
I was asking him about my usual big plant problem, Red Spider Mite, he said they use a product that kills them but they are only allowed to spray it once each season.
He said the reason being one of resistance, too many applications in a season of the same product helps the pest to build resistance.

It similar to the over use of antibiotic in animals.

I should add this particular insectercide is pretty pest specific.
For anyone interested http://www.bayercropscience.us/products/insecticides/envidor

 

Hi
An update on the use of Provado Ultimate Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer on my Brug's
I wont be using it again on my Brug's, I sprayed three of the four I have, the one I didn't spray continues to grow and looks healthy.
Unfortunately (comparing to the one I didn't spray) the three I sprayed aren't doing so well, they've lost a few leaves and the remaining leaves are quite pail and new growth is slow and also pale.
The three are showing signs of recovery but they certainly didn't like that spray.

Think next time it'll be back to soapy water and squishing