What to Do About Caterpillars on Your Vegetables: 5 Expert Tips

Few garden pests can cause the kind of devastation left behind by a squad of caterpillars. These moth and butterfly larvae have the ability to decimate entire plants, seemingly overnight. With voracious appetites for veggies like squash, cabbage, beans, parsley, dill, and others, when they strike, it’s easy to want to spray them away. 

It’s important to note that while caterpillars are a nuisance in the garden, their adult forms are beneficial. Many caterpillars are the larval forms of various moths and butterflies. These insects are responsible for important pollination and an increase in your garden’s yield. 

Keeping the caterpillars off your vegetables without killing them can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, but it’s not impossible. There are several ways you can save your garden from those hungry caterpillars.

What Kind of Caterpillars Are Eating My Vegetables?

 When we talk about caterpillars on your vegetables, a wide range of different species fall into that category. Caterpillars are the larval stage of insects in the Lepidoptera order. The adult stage of these insects includes butterflies and moths. 

Nearly all caterpillars require a host plant to survive. This is their food at this stage of life. Most cannot survive and develop without this set of plants, and sometimes one specific plant. Unfortunately, they can’t complete their life cycle if we don’t allow them to eat them. 

You have options if you want to preserve these species in your yard without losing all of your vegetables to them. Before we get to those, let’s look at some of the common cats that can cause problems in your vegetable beds.

What to Do About Caterpillars on Vegetables

The problem with eradicating these pests is that you also eliminate their adult forms. These are moths and butterflies, and many of them are important pollinators. Many of the night-blooming flowers we love depend on moths for pollination, and we see how important butterflies are in the garden on a daily basis. 

It would be wonderful if we could garden harmoniously with all these creatures, but it’s not always possible. Leaving them to eat your plants, while more humane, can leave you with a less-than-desirable result. Let’s discuss how you can save most of your garden without killing the caterpillars.

Manual Removal and Relocation

Depending on the type and severity of the infestation, manual removal of caterpillars can be the easiest way to deal with them. If you spot the culprit, depending on the type, you may be able to pluck that one and move on. Some caterpillars are solitary, meaning they may hatch in a group, but they will move on and feed alone. 

For large caterpillars like tomato hornworms, you may only have one or two to deal with. When it comes to armyworms, you may find yourself with a larger issue. For these smaller bugs, it might be more efficient to remove entire leaves. 

Always wear gloves when you’re manually removing pests from your plants. Some caterpillars have spines that can harm you if you touch them. Gloves will help protect your hands. What you do with them after you pluck them is another story. 

If you’re not worried about keeping them alive, you can toss them in a bucket of soapy water. If you want to preserve them, try relocating them. If you’re truly dedicated, you can grow a smaller garden in another location and drop unwanted pests there to feed.  

Ground Barriers

You can’t stop the adults from laying their eggs this way, but you can prevent caterpillars from moving around the garden using barriers on the ground. By wrapping the stems and covering the soil with different materials, you can deter these pests from crawling onto new plants to do more damage. 

Cardboard works for this purpose sometimes, but ultimately, it’s not the most effective option. It is, however, biodegradable, so it’s more environmentally friendly. You can place a layer of it around the base of a plant so that caterpillars get trapped underneath and don’t make it off the ground. 

Foil is a more effective option, as it’s a reflective barrier that most pests will stay away from. Wrap the stems or create a barrier on the ground that extends a few inches onto the base of the stem. 

This method is best used in tandem with others, as it won’t prevent the adults from laying eggs on your tomatoes. What it will do is slow the spread of those pests from one plant to another. By isolating them, they are easier to control. 

Row Covers

Barriers on the ground can prevent caterpillars from crawling from one place to another. To keep the adults from laying their eggs on your plants, you can use row covers. Covering plants with lightweight row covers can create a barrier to keep pests out of your garden. 

This method works best when the covers are installed early on, when you first plant. Once the pests get in, it’s hard to get rid of them completely without insecticides. Using row covers will protect not only against caterpillars but also against many other nuisance insects. 

The downside to this is that it also prevents pollinators from accessing the flowers. Some plants are self-pollinating, but others really rely on those pollinating insects and animals. Avoid using this on cucurbits, including squash, cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. Avoid covering okra and eggplants as well. 

Companion Planting

Companion planting is a great solution for many garden pests, and most of them dislike certain plants. Strong-smelling herbs are usually at the top of the list for keeping insects away from your vegetable garden.

Planting smelly things like garlic and onions, flowers like marigolds or nasturtiums, or strong-smelling herbs near your vegetables will keep many insects away. Moths, in particular, are averse to strong smells, so this works well for warding off their larvae. 

This is not a great solution when it comes to butterflies, as they don’t tend to dislike herbs and other flowers like marigolds. Sometimes these plants have the opposite effect, drawing butterflies to the garden. 

Natural Repellant Sprays

Finally, there are different smells that ward off caterpillars and the adult insects that lay their eggs in your garden. Some of the ideas you will see out there are intended to kill the caterpillars without harming the beneficial insects. Since caterpillars turn into beneficial insects in adulthood, this is counterproductive. 

If you kill the larvae, you eliminate the adults, ultimately. So, you need a spray that doesn’t kill, but repels both the caterpillars and the adult moths and butterflies that lay eggs on your plants. 

You may see neem oil on lists of pollinator-safe pesticides, but ultimately, it’s still harmful if you spray it directly on them. You’re better off using essential oils like peppermint, cedarwood, and eucalyptus to keep pests at bay. However, these harm other insects too.

You can also make a garlic spray to keep pests, animals, and vampires away from your vegetable garden. Vinegar is another scent that most insects dislike, so spraying a light mist of vinegar and water on your garden plants will repel them.