Thread: Catalpa Worms??

Any Catalpa worms showing up in Georgia yet??

The last frost we just had killed all the new growth on my trees. It'll probably be July before I get many, as usual. By then though, the nite time fishing is the best.

haven`t had any on a tree in my back yard and ben here for 13 years . had some on a tree in a buisness neighbor`s yard a few years ago . non sinse .
some have told me that you need to put some on the tree and that will git them started . any one have any idea

Heard the same thing...gotta jumpstart them every once in a while:D

That's what I'm trying to do here. I have a couple of trees but no worms.

Originally Posted by papasage

haven`t had any on a tree in my back yard and ben here for 13 years . had some on a tree in a buisness neighbor`s yard a few years ago . non sinse .
some have told me that you need to put some on the tree and that will git them started . any one have any idea

I've heard it said many a time that putting worms on a tree would work but an old timer once told me to spade up a piece of dirt with a shovel underneath the tree and after sundown put a few grown worms in a tin or glass jar upside down on top of the spaded up dirt and after dark they would go underground. Well, I did that when my trees were old enough to have worms and have had 'em every year since. My neighbor just put 'em on his tree and that tree had never had any worms.

now i have to find some :D . a frind of mine had a bunch of trees in his back yard and had them every year . he died some years ago and his wife mooved away . don`t know who ownes the house now . i will check on that . there is a tree on the river i will check on to .

There is some sense to a lot of what the previous posters have said.

I'm trying to start my own little catalpa factory for my own use and have been doing some reading on both the trees and worms. I got some seeds from a place on the internet and have about 30 trees that are 3-4 inches tall growing in pots. I'll probably keep them in pots this year and plant them next year (will give most away).

Some suggest that some "strains" of trees are more productive than others so genetics may play a role.

The catepillars pupate on the surface and then dig into soil so loosening up the soil in areas where it is hard may help them get down to where they need to go. The type of soil around the trees may be a factor - they may have a hard time digging down into clay and may not do well in soil that is overly wet.

They are parasitized by wasps and may have a tough time reaching high numbers in areas/years where there a lot of wasps.

There is a fair amount of material on the internet. You can get a lot of it by using "catalpa worms" as a search term but even more by using the scientific name - "Ceratomia catalpae" as a search.

have done a lot of study on the worms.i have been very successful with them.yes you can relocate them.i did my fist tree with just 13.the next year there were hundreds.i moved them there when they were about half grown.put them on the tree that hadnt had worms for many years.the key i think is the treatment of the tree.if you have access to water it to keep the leaves healthy.also you can use no or even be where pesticides are applied close by.no chemicals on the ground around the tree either.when i moved mine on i kept a good eye to be sure they matured to the point to go to the groud without being eaten by birds or anything else.this is just a small bit of what i learned not saying im an expert but if you have any other questions pm me.