I am sorry I didn't state my question clearly. I planted a large bed of petunias. My problem is?

tobacco worms and cut worms.


Don.

I am sorry I didn't state my question clearly. I planted a large bed of petunias. My problem is?
I have used Sevin and Malathon in my vegetable garden to kill cut worms. It comes in liquid or powder. I'm not familiar with tobacco worms. Good luck.
Reply:Whatever you do, don't use Sevin (carbaryl). Check out this link for information. It's just one of many good links about the effects of carbaryl.


http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides...





In addition, carbaryl kills everything in the soil, making it a barren wasteland on a microbial level after a few weeks. You will never bring the soil back to health and instead you'll find - like so many other people - that suddenly you "have to" add fertilizers and other chemicals to get anything to grow.





I'd suggest growing petunias and other tender plants in raised beds if you have cutworms. Some petunias are very tender and juicy and nearly irresistible to chewers. You can pick off the tobacco worms or use BT, which is bacillus thuringiensis and comes in powder form. However, BT also kills other insects and I would stay away from it.





In general, whenever you see a sudden "bloom" of one type of insect it means the garden is out of balance. Adding chemicals is a surefire way to make sure the garden is kept out of balance. If you stop using chemicals and stop planting things that are attacked, sooner or later the natural predators will come in and restore the balance of your garden.
Reply:The other answerer is righto. My flower garden would be cut to pieces if I didn't use the Sevin dust. The only plant that seems immune to the cutworms are the marigolds. Sevin dust=my hero.

elaine