How to Stop Budworms from Eating Your Flowers

I have a confession to make.  I’ve been a bad plant mama.  To my petunias and geraniums at least.  Life got in the way of gardening, I stopped spraying my plants for budworms, and all hell broke loose.

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How to Tell That Your Plants Have Budworms

I have been looking at tattered and barren petunias, including the one in the above photo, for about 3 weeks now.  It sucks.  Budworms are the culprits.  How do I know this?  Because every night for the past two weeks I have been picking the little beasts off my plants by the dozens.  I pick them off in the morning as well, and sometimes even midday.  I haven’t been able to visit the garden without feeling like I have to do the “budworm hunt”.  They just don’t stop coming.  Every year I battle budworms all summer long until the weather gets cooler.  But this year has been the worst.

Budworm is a generalized term for the caterpillars of various moths.  There are lots of different species but they all do one thing- eat the crap out of your flowers to the point where you will have no flowers.  This can happen very quickly.  Trust me.  Some telltale signs that you have a budworm issue are: holes in flowers, flower buds, and leaves; black pellet-like droppings on plants; and a general lack of blooming.  And of course, if you look close enough, you can see them all over your plants.  They can be hard to spot because there are smart ones that will hide under leaves and smarter ones that will take on the coloring of the plant they are feeding on.  There are super tiny baby ones too that will just burrow into buds where you can’t see them.  The budworm in the picture below was completely enclosed in the geranium bud.  The only sign that it was in there was a tiny pinprick hole that I noticed.  Opening the bud revealed the little beast.

First Line of Defense- Removing The Eggs

The eggs are tiny and white, but can be seen with the naked eye.  They are especially easy to spot on geranium buds and can be handpicked and disposed of (I prefer vengeful squishing).  Spotting the eggs and removing them is my first line of defense to preventing an outbreak, but eventually I become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, especially when they have been laid all over a large petunia plant.

Second Line of Defense- Consistent Spraying

Once the eggs show up, it is important to begin a spraying regimen once a week with an insecticide that targets budworms.  My favorite spray is Monterey B.t. It is OMRI listed for organic gardening.  I purchase it from Amazon. The active ingredient is Bacillus thuringiensis, a type of bacteria found naturally in soil.   The budworms feed on the treated leaves and flowers, get sick, and die.  It does not harm beneficials, but be sure to spray towards dusk when bees and butterflies are not active.  It did not discolor my white or light colored blooms (not that it would have mattered much considering they were full of holes and tattered).   Be sure to cover all surfaces of susceptible plants including buds and flowers and underneath leaves as best you can.  It’s awesome and it works.  It’s the reason that I have been able to grow petunias and geraniums again. It does not affect eggs, so it must be sprayed again as each new generation hatches.

Third Line of Defense- Keep Spraying CONSISTENTLY

Don’t be like me.  Don’t spray once and then stop.  Because if you live in Mothville USA like I do, the eggs don’t stop hatching and the budworms don’t stop feasting.  If you have one plant, you can probably have success with handpicking the caterpillars off every day.  If you have several, I’m here to tell you that this just doesn’t work.  The picture above proves it.  If only I could get back the hours I’ve spent bent over plants handpicking worms in the dark with a flashlight.  As those hours added up I really started to question my decision not to spray, because it wound up costing me time, heartache, and flowers.  So spray once a week and handpick any worms that you happen to see when you are out in the garden tending your plants.  I sprayed my plants a few days ago and plan to keep doing so.  I miss my beautiful plants full of lovely blooms. 

I hope you found this post helpful!  I would love to see your comments and questions in the space below. Are you dealing with those other terrible pests in the garden- leafhoppers and thrips? Then check out THIS POST all about sticky traps that help to keep populations in check! If you would like to see daily updates from my garden join me on Instagram and Facebook! 

Happy gardening!

Heather