Hungry, hungry cutworms
Hannah Alden, Reporter, The Record-Review I’m happy to report we’ve finally received some significant rainfall at the farm after weeks of dry weather. Of course, it always seems to happen after farmers make other preparations for water, like setting up irrigation, but I’ll take it!
Based on the rain gauge in the field, we got about an inch and a half here late last week and into the weekend. There were a couple spots that remained soggy for a day, but most of the field drank up the water as soon as it hit the ground, which I was pleased about, after worrying the rain would delay some planting.
My summer squash and tomatoes are finally in. This week’s planting docket includes eggplant, peppers, winter squash and melons. After the rain, I’ll also have to spend a good portion of time this week doing the first rounds of weeding. If I get to it in time, it shouldn’t be too bad, as everything is just sprouting up now.
On Sunday morning I went out to do a field walk early and spotted a lot of damage from cutworms. For those who don’t know, these little buggers hide under the soil during the day and come out at night to wreak havoc. Depending on the life stage they’re in, they can do a minor amount of damage to a transplant, like biting off a single leaf, but once they’re almost full grown they usually demolish the entire plant, cutting it off at the collar where it meets the ground.
There was a mix of damage levels in my beds of brassicas and sweet corn. So I spent the rest of the morning digging up the small plants (in some cases, just the roots that were left) that wouldn’t survive and snatching up the cutworms I found hiding beneath them. Then I applied the rest of the diatomaceous earth I had on hand to some of the left-standing plants. The diatomaceous earth, which is made from silica, eventually dehydrates the cutworms when they come into contact with it.
Unfortunately, even with the diatomaceous earth application, there’s no quick fix to get rid of cutworms other than going out each day (or night if you want to catch them in action) and physically removing the ones you find. I sent out an email about the issue to a group of farmers with a lot of knowledge and experience. I found out that cutworms are usually present where sod has been or is located (we do have quite a bit of grass in our field). Some clever tricks to reduce the attacks include putting toothpicks or skewers up against transplants — according to one farmer who has tried this, the cutworms attempt to chew through the wood barrier and give up. I was very grateful for the suggestions and information shared.
I’ve also heard that cutworm pressure is most significant at the beginning of the summer, especially if the water table is high, so hopefully in a few weeks the damages slow down. Otherwise I guess I’ll be looking to the robins to help me figure out how best to dig up these worms.
