Help, I've got Box Tree Moth

[MorelloKisses]

Ive just been in the garden and I have a lot of box (buxus) and noticed it isn't looking too good. Further inspection reveals a lot of caterpillar.

I'm new to all this and when my plants start to get damaged I panic a bit.

What do I do now?

There is a lot of this around at the moment. The best thing to do is to spray the plants to kill the caterpillar. They can eat through the plant really quickly.

I would spray to kill the caterpillar then keep feeding them.

Look up box tree moth and box blight on the RHS website?

If you must use insecticide do it at dusk to minimise risk to bees etc.

Apparently you can just hose them off every few days, which is cheaper and less destructive.

There are pheromone traps you can put out to stop males fertilizing eggs, you could look into those.

www.agralan-growers.co.uk/box-moth-cydalima-perspectalis-779-p.asp

Hosing them off wont work. These things are too destructive.

I have seen the pheromone traps but haven't used them.

Ooh, the RHS have a reporting thingy to monitor spread.

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=760

They are a major problem and will eventually spread across the country.

Its such a shame because they can completely destroy the plants. I think that alternatives should be planted instead of box. Especially when you consider how expensive the plants are.

Mine is dying but I can't see caterpillars.
I think mine is blight.

Such a shame, it was a lovely old plant.