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[compost_tea] aphids and tent caterpillars



I'm with Jeff.  Once you've knocked the aphids off, they may not return.  Any liquid will do that.  If they've laid eggs, more aphids might appear.  Perhaps ACT coating the eggs is detrimental to hatching and you've prevented their return by spraying, or maybe it's just good luck if they don't return.  Jeff's greenhouse is a better test; greenhouses are spas for nasty bugs.
 
When Bob first raved about ACT stopping tent caterpillars, I brewed up a big batch and sprayed everything I could reach.  Seattle, where Bob has his warehouse, had a few tent caterpillars.  Kitsap County, where I live, was the center of the infestation.  I can't say it didn't help--maybe things would have been worse without it.  ACT certainly didn't arrest activity of all the tents I sprayed.  They didn't like getting wet but resumed activity within a few hours.  However, I was able to reach only a small fraction of the tents as I have 5+ acres of forest, with many alders (the caterpillars' favorite food). 
 
All my alders were 50-100% defoliated.  I sprayed Bt on my fruit trees, which did kill caterpillars.  The trouble is, the caterpillars have to eat a bit of the foliage in order for their digestive systems to seize up.  This infestation was of biblical proportions, so everything they liked was defoliated, Bt or no, as another caterpillar started munching as the previous one was dying.  Then they started on the stuff they didn't especially like, broadleaf evergreens of the Heath family like native rhododendrons, salal and evergreen huckleberries. 
 
This is more than anyone wants to know, I'm sure, but experiencing an insect infestation of this magnitude is amazing.
 
In conclusion, I hope we will be careful about not overselling ACT.  Healthy plants definitely resist pests and my personal experience attests to that (excepting the epic infestation).  But ACT can sound like snake oil easily enough if you're just describing its positive affect on plant growth and how it can outcompete pathenogenic organisms when applied to foliage.  I share the enthusiasm for ACT but hope we don't overreach.
 
Susan Cruver

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