Cleveland County Master Gardener Association
  • Home
  • About
    • Master Gardener Program
    • Video about Cleveland County MG
    • Constitution
    • Memo of Understanding
  • Events
    • Garden Party 2023
    • Garden Party 2022
    • Garden Party 2020
    • Garden Party 2019
    • Garden Party 2018
    • Garden Party 2017
    • Photo Gallery 2022 >
      • Garden Party 2022
      • Home Tours June 2022
    • Photo Gallery 2019 >
      • State Conference 2019
    • Photo Gallery 2018 >
      • Demo Garden
      • Garden Tours 2018
      • State Conference 2018
    • Photo Gallery 2017 >
      • Regional MG State Conference June 2017
      • Waterwise Class
      • Will Rogers Tour June 1, 2017
  • Member News
    • Demo Garden Training Videos
    • Recorded meetings/seminars 2021
    • Summer MG Training Series 2020
    • Member Virtual Garden Tours
    • Members on YouTube
    • We want your input!
    • Desk Volunteer Calendar
    • Desk Guide
    • Newsletters >
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
    • MG Powerpoint Presenstations Available
    • Garden Tools/Helps
    • Time Sheets
    • Links from MG Meetings >
      • Okies for Monarchs
    • Volunteer Online Reporting
  • Education
    • Dishing the Garden Dirt: The CCMGA Blog
    • Junior Master Gardener Program
    • Recorded meetings/webinars 2020
    • Upcoming Classes
    • Demo Garden
    • Class Calendar
    • Video about Cleveland County MG
    • Okla. Gardening Show featuring OUR demo garden
    • Garden Based Learning
    • Horticulture Tips >
      • 2022
      • 2019
    • Cleveland County Extension Newsletters >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
    • Forestry and Natural Resources Webinars
    • Soil Testing
    • FAQs
    • Helpful Websites
    • Fact Sheets
  • Contact

The Worms Are Coming!

7/21/2022

0 Comments

 

by Judy Kautz, OSU Extension Master Gardener

Have you noticed the webs beginning to emerge in trees across our state?  Fall webworms are starting to make their appearance, and they certainly cause our trees to look unsightly.  But do webworms actually harm the trees or are they just a blight on the landscape?

Webworms, or Hyphantria cunea, usually appear on trees in the fall, causing unsightly nests and severe leaf damage. The webworm caterpillar is about an inch long with a black to reddish head and light yellow to greenish body with a mottled stripe of two rows of black and tufts of long whitish hairs. Adults appear as white moths with dark spots on the wings.
Picture
Webworm adults are white moths with black spots on their wings.
Webworms are a common occurrence across Oklahoma, but some years they are more noticeable than others. There may be several generations per season and their preferred species are pecan and persimmon trees.  However, you may also find them on other trees including hickory, walnut, mulberry, redbud, American elm, cottonwood and even bald cypress.
​
Webs from the webworm may look unattractive, but they usually do not impact a tree's health. Your tree may be totally defoliated by the caterpillars one year and have enough stored energy through photosynthesis to come back next season.  Even then, the long-term impact on the tree is minimal.

The webs themselves are created by a group of worms for protection as barriers from their own natural enemies, like arthropod predators, parasites and birds. Soon the worms will begin to fall from the webs and begin the next stage of their lives, pupating in the soil.
Picture
Webworms group together encased in webs to protect themselves from natural predators.
It’s a good idea to remove worms from younger trees, especially those less than two years old. Simply run your hand or a stick down the branch to remove the webs, or prune the branch out.  Be sure to dispose of the worms and webs you remove from the trees. 

There are also a variety of readily available sprays to help with those webs you cannot reach. You need to use a sprayer with enough pressure to penetrate the webbing.  This ensures the spray comes in contact with the caterpillars. Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly referred to as (Bt), is a good spray to use.  It only targets the caterpillars and does not harm beneficial insects like honey bees or other pollinators. You may also use other more broad ranging insecticides but be sure to closely follow all label instructions.

There are some who use a propane torch attached to a long pole to burn out the webs.  Controlling fall webworms using a torch is extremely dangerous!  Especially in our dry conditions, you may very well set the entire tree on fire and that could prove disastrous to your landscape or worse.  Avoid this method entirely!

Here is the safest and most effective method of eliminating webworms:  Prune the tree in the spring and spray with dormant oil spray.  Dormant oil has low toxicity and is readily available in any local garden supply store.   It is particularly effective because it attacks and kills overwintering eggs. Do make sure to clean up any leaf debris to remove these overwintering pupation populations as well.
​
Webworms are truly unsightly, but remember. Webs will eventually succumb to the elements.  They only stay attached until wind and rain wash them away!
Picture
Fall webworms are beginning to show up in Oklahoma landscapes.
​Do you have a gardening problem?  You can easily obtain help from the Cleveland County Extension Office.  Call (405) 321-4774 and ask to speak to a master gardener or simply come to the extension office.  Bring your problem plant and you will certainly be helped with your issue!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome to Dishing the Garden Dirt!
    ​
    The CCMGA Blog

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022

    Categories

    All
    Annuals
    Ants
    Apple
    Autumn
    Basil
    Bees
    Beneficial Insects
    Bird Feeders
    Butterfly
    Cactus
    Caterpillar
    Christmas Cactus
    Clean Up
    Clematis
    Companion Planting
    Containers
    Cool Season
    Crapemyrtles
    Curb Appeal
    Decor
    Dill
    Dried Flowers
    Drought Tolerant
    Drying Herbs
    Fall
    Fall Color
    Fall Gardening
    Floral Arrangements
    Flowers
    Freezing Herbs
    Fruit Trees
    Garlic
    Good Bugs
    Harvests
    Hedge
    Hellebore
    Herbs
    Hibiscus
    Holiday
    Holly
    Houseplant
    Hummingbirds
    Insects
    Irrigation
    Lavender
    Low Maintenance
    Memorial Day
    Mint
    Ornamental Grasses
    Peach
    Peony
    Perennial
    Pest Management
    Pollinator
    Pollinators
    Preservation
    Privacy
    Pumpkin
    Raised Beds
    Rosemary
    Rose Of Sharon
    Roses
    Sage
    Shade
    Shrubs
    Soil Testing
    Spiders
    Spring
    Squash
    Storing Vegetables
    Summer
    Sunflower
    Thyme
    Transplants
    Tree
    Tree Pest
    Vegetable
    Vegetables
    Water Conservation
    Watering
    Weather
    Webworm
    Winter
    Winter Vegetable
    Xeriscape
    Zucchini

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • Master Gardener Program
    • Video about Cleveland County MG
    • Constitution
    • Memo of Understanding
  • Events
    • Garden Party 2023
    • Garden Party 2022
    • Garden Party 2020
    • Garden Party 2019
    • Garden Party 2018
    • Garden Party 2017
    • Photo Gallery 2022 >
      • Garden Party 2022
      • Home Tours June 2022
    • Photo Gallery 2019 >
      • State Conference 2019
    • Photo Gallery 2018 >
      • Demo Garden
      • Garden Tours 2018
      • State Conference 2018
    • Photo Gallery 2017 >
      • Regional MG State Conference June 2017
      • Waterwise Class
      • Will Rogers Tour June 1, 2017
  • Member News
    • Demo Garden Training Videos
    • Recorded meetings/seminars 2021
    • Summer MG Training Series 2020
    • Member Virtual Garden Tours
    • Members on YouTube
    • We want your input!
    • Desk Volunteer Calendar
    • Desk Guide
    • Newsletters >
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
    • MG Powerpoint Presenstations Available
    • Garden Tools/Helps
    • Time Sheets
    • Links from MG Meetings >
      • Okies for Monarchs
    • Volunteer Online Reporting
  • Education
    • Dishing the Garden Dirt: The CCMGA Blog
    • Junior Master Gardener Program
    • Recorded meetings/webinars 2020
    • Upcoming Classes
    • Demo Garden
    • Class Calendar
    • Video about Cleveland County MG
    • Okla. Gardening Show featuring OUR demo garden
    • Garden Based Learning
    • Horticulture Tips >
      • 2022
      • 2019
    • Cleveland County Extension Newsletters >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
    • Forestry and Natural Resources Webinars
    • Soil Testing
    • FAQs
    • Helpful Websites
    • Fact Sheets
  • Contact