Retired Texas A&M professor and advisor to Plant-It-Forward-Farms, Joe Novak, alerted us to an infestation of garden plantings of the Hawaiian Beet Webworm moth larvae. This pest has also sadly begun attacking the new beet seedlings in adjacent plots. The Hawaiian Beet Webworm will attack Beets, Chard and Spinach plants. It devastated PIFF crops last year.
Joe suggests that plants in the beet/chard/spinach family be monitored closely. Remove any affected plants to the trash, or desirable vegetables must be treated quickly with BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) to kill the webworms. They are hard to kill once they’re enclosed in their webs.
Contact Wayne for BT treatment if you have evidence of this pest in your bed.
