1 March 2023

Customer Question – Box Caterpillar?

Q. “Good morning, Please could you tell me if the Box Caterpillar is the same as the Box hedge blight  caterpillar/moth that eats and kills Box hedging?  I’ve searched my hedges, something is eating the leaves leaving bare stems but I can’t see anything or any webs.  My hedges look as though they’re dying but it could also be from the drought.  I did wonder if it was worth applying this box nematode you are advertising.??” Kind regards Linda  French

A. Thanks for the message and box moth caterpillar and box blight are two different things. Box Caterpillar is one pest i.e. the moths lay eggs in the hedge / plants and these hatch into the caterpillars that feed to the leaves before turning into moths and repeating the life cycle – there can be up to 3 generations a year.

Box Blight is something different – Box blight is a fungal disease, which causes leaves to go brown and fall off, leading to bare patches, which makes the plants unsightly. Unfortunately the symptoms of both are similar i.e. the plants lose leaves, but with blight the leaves will go brown 1^st and then fall off so they will be under the plant where as the caterpillar is eating them, so they will just disappear. With the caterpillars you will also see evidence of webbing / the caterpillars themselves, which I know you have looked for, but have a good look inside the plant where they tend to stick leaves together and then hide inside.

Please inspect the plants as box caterpillar over-winters as a caterpillar, so if you have them they should be in your plants now. If you find caterpillars, you can treat with the Box Nematodes in the spring , but if it is blight this will not help. If you do not find caterpillars then it is likely to be blight, so spray with Topbuxus Health Mix now (the treatment for blight). To help the plants recover, it is agood idea to gove them a feed – out Topbuxus Grow Buxus Feed is ideal.

Let me know what you find. Kind regards Jon @ Green Gardener

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