I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
see on TV!
Any ideas folks?

PatC wrote:
> I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
> they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
> leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
> those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
> I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
> birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
> amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
> everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
> the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
> My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
> see on TV!
> Any ideas folks?

Use Dipel.

To quote from
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestcontrol/caterpillar_prod. html

A pest control mainstay for organic growers worldwide. Dipel contains
Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, it is highly effective and
selective against most species of caterpillars. This biological control
is a bacterial stomach poison for all caterpillars, which is mixed with
water and sprayed onto foliage. It must be ingested by the actively
feeding caterpillar, which dies 3-5 days later. It is totally safe to
beneficial insects, bees, and mammals. Bt is broken down by sunlight
within a few days, so repeated applications may be necessary.

end quote

In article <1130966505.489985.73890 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
"GreenieLeBrun" <GreenieLeBrun [at] hotmail.com> wrote:

> PatC wrote:
> > I live in Sydney & always have a caterpillar problem eating the tomatoes,
> > they start off eating the leaves & I spend a lot of time checking under the
> > leaves & pick them off, but eventually if I turn my back for a day or so
> > those darned caterpillars are now chomping into the fruit.
> > I really don't like using chemical sprays as we get a lot of parents & young
> > birds eating all our bugs in the grass & vegies, they are quite cute &
> > amusing to watch...Mum leading the way & bubs following whilst checking
> > everything they think may be edible, including pecking at flowers falling in
> > the fish pond & generally looking stupid.
> > My garden is very small so don't want to use those big spray things that you
> > see on TV!
> > Any ideas folks?
>
> Use Dipel.
>
> To quote from
> http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestcontrol/caterpillar_prod. html
>
> A pest control mainstay for organic growers worldwide. Dipel contains
> Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, it is highly effective and
> selective against most species of caterpillars. This biological control
> is a bacterial stomach poison for all caterpillars, which is mixed with
> water and sprayed onto foliage. It must be ingested by the actively
> feeding caterpillar, which dies 3-5 days later. It is totally safe to
> beneficial insects, bees, and mammals. Bt is broken down by sunlight
> within a few days, so repeated applications may be necessary.
>
> end quote
>

Another good product for caterpillar control is "Spinosad". Yates sell
it as "Success".


Paul