[Owen'nZoe]

Today when I went out to check on my carrots, I noticed that all of the leaves were gone from several carrots in a square. I quickly found the culprit - a really impressive looking striped, and quite fat, catepillar. I picked him off the carrot and for a second thought I'd get rid of him, but something made me stop at the last second. Thank goodness, because when I looked him up, I found out he is a parsleyworm, and will turn into a lovely Black Swallow Tail butterfly!

So, I'm reluctantly happy to donate my carrots to the little guy, but does anyone know how many he is likely to eat before he is done? I was really looking forward to those carrots. *sigh*

 

[CarrieMF]

Could you transplant him somewhere else in the garden/yard or leave scraps of other greens around so he eats them instead?

 

[Owen'nZoe]

Hmmm...that is an idea I hadn't thought of - definitely worth a try. Thanks! Yesterday evening he had moved on to a new carrot, and one of the carrots he had completely eaten was starting to send up a new little leaf, so maybe they'll be able to bounce back, anyway. DS is proudly showing anyone who will look his catepillar now; the little guy is becoming a family pet.

 

[UlrikeDG]

My local grocery store sells parsley plants in the produce department. You could buy him his very own little habitat.

 

[greenegirl]

A parsley worm will eat a little grocery store parsley plant in no time flat! I think they are such a pretty caterpillar. I just started some Giant Italian Parsley from seed. This is a parsley plant that will look like a bush -- about 3 feet tall and nearly that big around. Even though I don't need this much, I planted 3 seeds. I had some parsley worms in the garden last year, munching on the stalks left after the parsley was mostly picked off. I'm hoping some more will move in when these new plants get growing.

ETA: This is where I got the seeds -- http://www.seedsavers.org/prodinfo.asp?number=279(OG)
Since the packet has 250 seeds in it, and I only planted 3 of them, I'd be happy to send you some of my seeds. PM me if you would like some!

 

[cornflake girl]

Where is a good place to look up caterpillars? I know I saw a good site awhile ago, but I've been unable to find it since.

 

[Owen'nZoe]

Thanks for the offer, Karen! I think it is too late to start parsley in my zone, though - I can hardly believe it, but we're only about 6 weeks away from our first freeze date right now. I did end up buying several parsley plants on clearance, though, for dirt cheap, and hopefully they will hold him until fall. I moved him to a patch of carrots that are just about ready to pull, first, though - I figured there is no harm in eating the tops at this point.

CG- I'm not sure where the best place to look up caterpillars is, but I did a search on common pests for carrots, and was able to identify it that way. If you are trying to identify something in your garden, maybe you could work backwards from the plant, too?

 

[greenegirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe Thanks for the offer, Karen! I think it is too late to start parsley in my zone, though - I can hardly believe it, but we're only about 6 weeks away from our first freeze date right now.

UGH!!! I have only lived in Florida for 4 years. I really expected to miss having real seasons as I lived in New England for nearly my entire life. But I do NOT miss snow and ice and cold at all.

It has been very strange for me to garden here, though. When we moved to Florida, it was June, and I was all excited about how I would be able to get good produce. But Julne is the middle of the no-growing season here. It is too hot for many 'summer' plants (tomatoes, for example, won't set fruit when the temperature is regularly over 82 degrees -- a condition that starts here in mid-April) and too humid for others (especially squashes). So I just started seeds two weeks ago -- tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, watermelon, cucumbers, okra, black-eyed peas, peppers, and lots of different herbs.

Cornflake Girl -- I've had good luck identifying different plants and/or critters by searching on Google. I'd search with your state in the name, and you'll probably get some hits for County Extension offices in your area, ie searching for Florida Butterfly Garden (which is my next project) helped me find information on butterflies, caterpillars, and what they eat.

 

[serenetabbie]

Do you have any Queen Anne's Lace near by? I understand they like that almost as much as carrots