I spotted them last Tuesday, crawling on my prized kale plants. Those little green caterpillars were chewing holes through every leaf. Right then I knew I had to do something quick before my entire garden turned into a bug buffet.
The Battle Plan
First I dug through my garage storage, praying I had something left over from last season. Found a half-empty bottle with a faded label – some generic caterpillar killer spray. Shook it hard like the directions said, and poured it into my rusty sprayer tank. Mixed it with water till it looked like dirty lemonade.
Going to War
Timed it for early morning when bees wouldn’t be around. Stomped out to the garden in muddy boots, sprayer strap cutting into my shoulder. Went row by row:
- Drenched the tops and bottoms of every kale leaf
- Hosed down my broccoli plants til they dripped
- Got carried away and sprayed nearby flowers too
- Managed to soak my pants leg when the nozzle clogged
The stuff smelled like rotten eggs mixed with chemicals. Held my breath and kept spraying till the whole bottle was gone.
The Aftermath
Checked next morning expecting dead bugs everywhere. Instead, found three fat caterpillars happily munching like nothing happened! Those little jerks actually looked healthier than before. Meanwhile, my radish leaves had started curling up with brown edges. Turns out I’d grabbed concentrate instead of ready-to-use spray – fried my plants with double strength poison.
What Actually Worked
Ditched the chemicals after that mess. Went outside at dawn with a bucket of soapy water and picked those caterpillars off by hand. Dropped about thirty into the suds. Took maybe three mornings, but my plants started bouncing back. Should’ve done that from the start – would’ve saved money and my radishes.
Final tally? The spray killed five plants and zero bugs. My fingers squished every last caterpillar. Sometimes the old ways just work better.
