Report a pest
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If you have too many caterpillars on your swan plants, please don’t phone me. I am swamped too, and although I have big plants in my garden, I am thinking about the hundreds of pupae that my first generation have turned into… and what will happen when they are ready to breed.
The MBNZT predicted this situation arising some months ago when we heard that there would be 81,000 less swan plants (and big ones too) on the market this year in Auckland because one grower had his business on the market. Raising swan plants commercially is very labour intensive as if you want to produce the best food for monarchs you have to somehow control aphids without using pesticides – and then if one monarch gets into your growing area… well you can imagine. He can’t sell sticks, can he?
If you have too many caterpillars you can inquire at the local primary school and you could post in your local community pages. There might be plants growing wild near you. But the chances are that they have the same problem. And your caterpillars are pretty much doomed. The best way you can help the monarchs is to get a packet of seeds (or packets) and plant lots of plants for NEXT YEAR. Or buy a few extra of the small plants for NEXT year. You could put your caterpillars on that dreadful weed, moth vine, or pumpkin and hopefully some will survive to become adults. If you have friends, family or whanau in Northland or the Bay of Plenty where it’s warmer, ask them if there are swan plants growing wild near them, and if they or someone can bring them down to you. Sometimes there are self-sown plants that people weed out and throw away.
If the plants get eaten, even without leaves, DO NOT throw them in the compost but plant the roots and stems and hopefully they will regenerate. And if you love monarchs, PLEASE plan ahead for next year. And please share this message with others.
If others have tips too, please post them here. Thanks.
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