What's this wee Leaf eating bug?

[jonnyscot]

Anyone know of some spray I can find locally or something I can make up to deal with this wee devil that is eating the leaves from my young lemon and lime trees, found 3 of them 2 weeks back, scraped them off and this morning found another 3, they make short work of the leaves, so hopefully someone can advise on a plant friendly method of removal preferably in spray form or something

Cheers

[cooked]

Difficult to see from the photo. Isn't that the caterpillar of Hawkshead moth? Remove by hand if possible.

[jonnyscot]

Hi cooked, unsure what it's called, all green in colour though I found a smaller one that wasn't green(if they're both the same that is) the smaller one was more similarly coloured to the caterpillar found in UK, the bigger ones were all green, they grow very quickly, especially after munching through my leaves

Difficult to see from the photo. Isn't that the caterpillar of Hawkshead moth? Remove by hand if possible.

[fredge45]

Wood vinegar works great as a repellent for chewing bugs. Needs to be reapplied after rains or if you use a sprinkler for watering. Same goes for a pyrethrin based insecticide or detergent spray.

[canman]

You could try a home made repellent made from detergent and chillie. Pleanty of examples on the net; One here: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/organic-pesticides/

[Packdee]

I use this bio pesticide .

http://www.appliedchemthai.com/product/449881/METAZAN.html

[jonnyscot]

Thanks guys, that's some recipes there for me to try out,

[jonnyscot]

The wife's telling me we have a neem tree on our land, along with the info given above I think I'll try a bit of experimenting with the neem leaves and try soaking them overnight in some cold water and applying with a little olive oil or something, I assume the organic soap mentioned helps the liquid stick to the leaves, maybe olive oil will have a similar effect

[Jogden]

Someone posted a recipe a while ago, forgotten who but it worked a treat on all the bugs eating my plant leaves. Thanks!

One 20 litre bucket (I only had a 15 ltr) anyway one bucket, trim the lemon grass, almost half filled the bucket with well trimmed (broken, scrunched up) lemon grass bits, a coffee cup of vinegar, filled bucket with tap water and soaked for 24hrs with a house brick pushing the grass down. Stained water off after 24hrs and put into the pump sprayer. Gave everything a dousing and no bugs until it rained. Resprayed after rain, working good.

Wife and kids moan a little bit of the smell when the mix is about a week old, still works good though. Hope this one helps you.

[jonnyscot]

Hi jogden, thanks for that one, sounds a very simple but effectively tried and tested one,,,

wife just came back from the local garden seed shop, (I'm assuming she hasn't any confidence in my neem leaf mix) seems they don't have anything that they can't guarantee will eliminate these leaf eaters without possibly damaging the young trees,, so probably better if I can get an effective home made one

[cooked]

I was laughed at in the village when I did a lemon grass / chili / neem mixture and let it ferment (put it through a blender first), but it works up to a point. It is a repellent meaning that when it rains you have to apply again. I have since discovered a ready made preparation which I use when I am feeling environmentally friendly.