Anyone experienced using BT?

[HigherDrifter]

Yeah.

I've been clipping off dried nuggets from my 7 week bud-broken branches. I've come across only three (looks like) Tobacco budworms, so far, all of which were less than 1/2 inch long, so they haven't really done any damage or left a lot of fecal matter all over the buds ( I haven't seen any poop)

I figured - if they're on my drying buds then they're no doubt crawling around on my Mystery Queen's buds.

Mixed up two separate spray bottles of BT (24oz.) and sprayed both my drying/hanging buds and the buds on the Mystery Queen. I practically drenched them. I've got a boxfan set up and it's blowing on the Mystery Queen to help dry her out.

I've never used BT before.

How effective is it with getting rid of budworms?

If and how will it effect the final outcome of the harvest?

I'd imagine, if the BT works, the worms will die, and then presumably fall out of the buds entirely, or, they'll get tangled up amongst the buds and I'll find dead budworms as I'm harvesting the buds...?

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[HigherDrifter]

The boxfan outside on the Mystery Queen has dried her up pretty good.

The drying/hanging buds appear to be drying fine...kinda a light breeze to help out.

I was pretty clean and careful with how I handled the BT.

Had a sink full of hot, bleachy, and soapy water nearby.

Used everything that I mixed, three spray bottles full to be exact. Two bottles to spray the hanging/drying buds and the Mystery Queen buds - and then another bottle to spray the downed Mystery Queen Two (I haven't throw her into the compost/mulch pit yet and she has a lot of buds on her, albeit immature, but I figured the budworms had gotten into those).

After spraying I cleaned everything inside and out with the hot, bleachy, and soapy water.

So...

Anyone wish to add anything, speficially to do with using BT would be nice, but...

Whatever information would be useful.

 

[HB Rob]

BT doesn't work right away, but it works. BT stays on plant surfaces for a bit making it a good preventative control, but at this point the most effective thing you can do is pluck the worms off with tweezers.

 

[Droopy Dog]

Try to remember to rinse it off. LOL

I use it quite a bit on my tomatoes and have eaten a fair share from pulling tomatoes of the vine and eating them on the spot, remembering the BT about 1/2 way through. Then I ate the rest of it. LOL

It's totally harmless to anything but caterpillars. I do rinse it off the mj though.

DD

 

[HigherDrifter]

I'm using this "Safer" brand "Caterpillar Killer" with the BT in it. My friend got it within the last few years (he doesn't remember when he got it) at the local independent nursery nearby. I'm just wondering if it's still viable. I've talked with a nursery tech and he said that stuff stays viable for a very long time.

Anybody know what might the shelf life be for this stuff?

I've talked with a nursery tech and he said that stuff stays viable for a very long time. He wasn't very convincing - I'll have to call Safer's and talk to them directly.

I am still finding the worms, here and there, both on the drying buds and the live buds out on the Mystery Queen. So far the damage has been minimal - just a little bit of bud "browning". Been seeing a little bit of the poop. Looks like little black grains of sand.

 

[Droopy Dog]

I've had mine for ~3 years and it still works.

Need a new bottle though, have enough left for perhaps 1/2 gal of solution.

As long as it's not stored with temp extremes, it stays good.

DD

 

[HigherDrifter]

Made what could be the last spraying of BT on my plant.

I sprayed over a gallon of the solution on the plant.

I sprayed around 8 o'clock this morning. Plant looked a little droopy afterwards so I set up the box fan to help dry things out.

It's been a good 4~5 hours since the spray....

and now she's looking more than okay

Lookin real good in fact: