The name "web worm" seems to be a catch all for various plant eating worms. I see very subtle strings on my maples in the spring but the leaves seem to go pretty fast if I don't spray with something. I'm trying to go organic as much as possible. I called Mountain Maples, a California company...Mountain Maples.com (a fabulous website if you can not identify your maples as they have color photos of many many maples you can order) and they said absolutely never use insecticidal soaps as they cause leaf drop. If I go chemical I'm to use Malathion. SMELLY! Not good on ferns. I think I used Sevin before once. What I'm wondering is whether this is really a worm since I can't see it or some kind of mite or something. Has anyone had this experience? It's confusing as we get oak worms which also have strings similar to these. Is there something else I can use? I used malathion on a small Emperor One and it seemed to work. Also, suddenly after 23 years squirrels have started eating our acer. palm. maples. I tell you it is like a feeding frenzy. In the fall, they literally drop whole chewed off branches full of leaves and leave them there while sitting in the tree and eating others. FYI...I started using the infrared water canon to discourage but not hurt them and found a spray to put on the leaves that they don't like.
I've had pretty good luck in general with pyrethrin, which often is the active ingredient in sprays marketed for edible plants like tomatoes. It seems to be totally benign from the plant's perspective (as I understand, it's basically just a concentrated extract from some species of chrysanthemum) but it breaks down pretty quickly once applied. During an active period of infestation you have to spray repeatedly.
Thanks. I'll try it. To Alex....I did see you mention white oil in another thread. Is it used in the fall and/or spring before the sap runs, or can it be used anytime?
yes anytime,better in start morning when the sun low or in later afternoon ,if possible in one day with not wind....ciao
Red, Have you had success with the water cannon? What have you put on maple leaves that the squirrels don't like? Does it stop them from gnawing the stems?
I actually have a recipe for keeping pests away from plants. I'll see if I can find it...but who has time? This is called "Deer Off" by Havaheart. They don't like it. I used it as a last ditch effort not thinking it would work and it seemed to do the trick. I sprayed it all over the trees. Put in the effort in the beginning by keeping it up and they will probably go elsewhere. It has egg solids and garlic in it. The water canon is called "The Scarecrow" by Contech. It's just like a sprinkler that goes off when something moves in front of it including you..HA..so remember it's there. It's very expensive and my take is this...we have a cable line...escape route right to the house in the middle of the trees. Squirrels as adorable as they USED to be are like rats with tails...smart. You have to aim one scarecrow above and one below or they will move down and up accordingly. The machine does cover a wide area. Try the Deer Off first. It's cheaper.
