Hello everyone,
For the last few weeks we have been inundated by thousands of tent caterpillars, they have attacked all of our fruit trees and especially the apple trees, (they love them). But you will find them on other trees such as madrona, alder, laurel and many other deciduous trees.
Every year I see a few leathery brown tape-like egg cases. They stick firmly to the branches of their future victim trees and stay there through the winter. The eggs hatch around the second or third week of May in our West Sound area, and by the end of May they are about ¼” in size. That is the best time to eradicate them because by the time they reach full maturity, about I” to 2”, they are munching on the new leaves of the host tree and it’s extremely difficult to get to them.
There are different ways to get rid of them; I burn them. I tie my soldering tool to an 8’ pole. The tool is a small cylindrical butane tank with the flame regulator. Then I turn on the torch and start burning. I do that every morning when it’s usually not windy and keep at it until the caterpillars are all gone.
>I also learned something important today and I thought that it would be wise to pass it along to you too.
If you have trees that have been defoliated by tent caterpillars; make sure you water them frequently because without leaves they can’t process enough moisture and they could get dry and die.
George Karnikis
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
