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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 10, 2017 22:48:16 GMT -5
I was going to post this on pests, but even I don't kill these things while they're eating my parsley and dill - their favorite foods, esp. dill. I have one of those Junior Earthboxes on my deck with just two herbs - one HUGE parsley, and a couple of dills, and, so far, I found 6 caterpillars, close to pupating. I have a BUNCH of these out there now! Originally, I thought there were just 3, in my parsley/dill windowsill box on my deck, but I found 6 there today, then, on several dill plants out in the garden, I found at lest 5 more babies. Here's the largest, next to another, and one way down at the bottom: DSCF0341 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Here's the best shot I got of one: DSCF0340 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Here's one of the babies, only about 3/4": DSCF0344 by pepperhead212, on Flickr And here's that huge parsley plant, hiding most of the dill, and maybe more caterpillars I haven't found! I found the 3 more when I trimmed this earlier, removing the yellowed and browned stems underneath. I use parsley, but I can't keep up with this thing! DSCF0342 by pepperhead212, on Flickr At first, I tried growing flat leaf parsley, but it bolted (even that in the ground bolted...not sure what's going on), so I started a curly variety, which I also find easier to grow in hydro, as it isn't so vigorous - imagine that!
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Post by paulf on Sept 11, 2017 8:22:10 GMT -5
We always plant lots of sacrificial fennel for the Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Here they prefer fennel to dill but devour both. Great shots. Love the butterflies and the caterpillars, too.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Oct 27, 2018 7:44:11 GMT -5
I planted Rue for 3 reasons. A) deter cats from the garden. Unfortunately, it only works directly in the Rue plantings. B) Companion plant for the Raspberries and Roses. Seems to work well. C) Provide a home for BlackSwallowtails. I still find them occasionally in the parsley or the dill, but since I've planted Rue, I actually get to harvest some of the culinary herbs And it has definitely increased the numbers of hatches. Besides, one is under our picture window and I often see them emerge and take flight while I'm watching TV. Not so with the ones in the backyard unless I'm actually outside in the garden.
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 27, 2018 8:11:42 GMT -5
I always allow the volunteer dill to remain for the caterpillars. They are so beautiful and so are the Black Swallowtail butterflies. I have a few out there right now too. They will pupate and spend the winter that way before hatching in the spring. One time I brought home a coffee cup of about 10 caterpillars that were in a local greenhouse on their parsley. The average customer does not want to buy parsley with a "bug" on it and I figured that they would be killed so I brought them home and put them on my parsley at home. Last year I was lucky enough to see one pupate. I have never seen this before or since but I took pics. As you can see the caterpillar moved off of the parsley and onto a nearby hosta plant. I watched the pupa every day but somehow I missed seeing the butterfly emerge. DSC01635 by Brownrexx, on Flickr DSC01629 by Brownrexx, on Flickr DSC01636 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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