I use Spinosad to controll bud worms and have close to a 100% success rate. Well, OK it's probably 100% because I have not seen a bud worm in my bud bags for a few years. I found this article though and although a little bit of labor is required it sounds interesting to try... just to see those little buggers die .
Tobacco Hornworms and Budworms
Applying dried spores of Bacillus thuringiensis in a cornmeal bait
was tried in 1960 and found effective for killing budworms as well as
hornworms that damage tobacco. In earlier experiments, sprays and
dusts containing the spores killed hornworms, but gave only partial control
of budworms. Since budworms and hornworms attack tobacco at the same
time in the South, there is hope of adjusting dosage rates to get a combined
kill and avoid foliage damage.
Adding cornmeal to spore dust preparations apparently induces bud-
worm larvae to eat avidly enough to take in spores for a high infection
rate. The spores do not kill at once, but worms that eat the spore -corn-
meal bait soon stop feeding and die. In limited experiments, the effective-
ness of the bait has equaled or exceeded the excellent control that growers
obtain with chemical insecticide sprays containing endrin.
These experiments have been conducted on flue-cured tobacco in
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. In Florida, work has been
done on both shade -grown and sun-grown tobacco. The spore bait is
effective for several days, and in a typical experiment four treatments
have been spaced over 2-week intervals. Hand dusters have been used,
but the best results have been achieved when bait was applied to buds and
upper leaves of tobacco plants by hand.
[https://archive.org/details/useofdiseasestok74unit p9]
bud-man-ran
Tobacco Hornworms and Budworms
Applying dried spores of Bacillus thuringiensis in a cornmeal bait
was tried in 1960 and found effective for killing budworms as well as
hornworms that damage tobacco. In earlier experiments, sprays and
dusts containing the spores killed hornworms, but gave only partial control
of budworms. Since budworms and hornworms attack tobacco at the same
time in the South, there is hope of adjusting dosage rates to get a combined
kill and avoid foliage damage.
Adding cornmeal to spore dust preparations apparently induces bud-
worm larvae to eat avidly enough to take in spores for a high infection
rate. The spores do not kill at once, but worms that eat the spore -corn-
meal bait soon stop feeding and die. In limited experiments, the effective-
ness of the bait has equaled or exceeded the excellent control that growers
obtain with chemical insecticide sprays containing endrin.
These experiments have been conducted on flue-cured tobacco in
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. In Florida, work has been
done on both shade -grown and sun-grown tobacco. The spore bait is
effective for several days, and in a typical experiment four treatments
have been spaced over 2-week intervals. Hand dusters have been used,
but the best results have been achieved when bait was applied to buds and
upper leaves of tobacco plants by hand.
[https://archive.org/details/useofdiseasestok74unit p9]
bud-man-ran
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