I usually take a small stick and place it as close to the stem as I can get, poking it gently into the soil as far down as it will go, trying not to damage roots, so that's probably about half an inch. The idea is to stop the cutworm from being able to wrap itself around the stem to do its dirty work. They don't need to be that big, maybe 3".

Another way to keep them out is to save the cardboard inserts from toilet rolls, cut them, and wrap them around the seedlings when planting them out.

Linda

3" total? So 2 1/2" above ground. Will they crawl up it and eat the leaves off the plant?

A single is enough if it is thick enough. Twigs works better than any bamboo skewer IMO, and the old time method was just a big 10 penny nail along side the stem. Cutworms only work right at the soil line and just above. They encircle the stem to cut it off so the point is to keep them from being able to wrap around it. I use cheap plastic drinking straws cut in half.

If you will type 'cutworm control' into the forum search box here you will find all kinds of info on controlling them.

Dave

Ok...so the idea is to get it close enough and make the stem and stick fat enough that the cutworm can't get around the stem? I found a cutworm, or so I think it is one from pictures I saw online but if I also have any other type of grub/worms coming up in the dirt with this stop or hinder them, too?

As Linda says. I take a toilet paper or paper towel tube and slice off an inch-or-two length segment. That'll do the trick. Put that around the seedling. I don't like sticking things in the soil close to the plant. Just messing with roots.

Cutworms are why I don't generally direct seed plants that are fragile as seedlings, like tomatoes, pepper, eggplant and cucurbits. Because you don't know exactly where the seedling is going to come up and, by then, the cutworm will have gotten it.

These are beans and corn. I don't have enough toliet paper tubes at this time and I did wonder if sticking a straw or stick down in the dirt might hurt the new seedling. You don't put the toliet paper tubes down in the dirt? The worms won't just come up inside?

I have lots of pvc and thought about cutting 2.5" pieces and placing around them but I can't get them down in the dirt without hurting something I'm afraid.

Also, I am wondered about mold or mildew or heat building up in a straw?

I have about 30 plants to protect and am trying to make the best decision so I don't have to redo it all.

Linda, you don't have to leave the sticks/straws in the ground all that long, just until the stems have grown nice and tough to resist the cutworm damage. The toilet paper tubes are for young seedlings so that you can wrap them around and then put garden soil on the outside. You would need to bury them a bit at planting time. Keep the PVC thought for next season :)

For me, cutworms are usually an afterthought, so I go around the garden in search of skinny twigs to use on my tomato and pepper seedlings.

Linda

When protected by a cardboard tube, I've never seen a worm come up inside and destroy a plant. Never. But if you have more plants than you have cardboard tubes then just use toothpicks.

With cardboard, you slit the tubes on the side so you can open the loops up
and wrap them around the seedling without touching the foliage. Can't do
that with PVC.

Can't get down in the dirt without hurting something? Well, then it's going to be hard to put anything near the seedling.

I think I'll get some dixie type cups. I mean I was afraid I would hurt the roots pushing them down in the dirt.

I found a caterpillar at the base of one that was grayish and looked like the pics of cutworms I found online.

I understand but as I said cutworms come in all sorts of colors and shades from yellow to green to brown to gray to orange etc. and with stripes and no stripes. And there are literally 100+ grayish caterpillars that are not cutworms.

So when in doubt it is better to understand their various life cycles when it comes to ruling out what it may or may not be and study the specific type of damage done. It also helps to understand that if it is a lone cutworm the odds of there being many are very slim simply because of the time of year it is.

Putting some sticks or whatever by your plants sure isn't going to hurt anything but if cutworms aren't the problem then it won't help either so you need to keep you mind and eyes open to other possibilities, especially ones that are more likely this time of year such as various grubs, various butterfly larvae, and tomato/cornear worms for example.

Dave

Actually, if you stick sticks in the soil, you can hurt the roots. These are seedlings. The roots are close to the surface and the stem, exactly where you're pressing those sticks in. Toothpicks are small enough that the damage will be minor. Sticking cardboard rings around the plants just requires that they be secure in the ground. Probably need to be pressed in a quarter inch or less.

Cutworm damage is where the stem was sliced off at ground level and the plant just falls over. Timberrrr. That's the classic appearance that Dave is referring to.

Several of the seedlings just have a nub of the stem left barely above the soil line (maybe 1/16") and no remaing leaves or evidence. The one I found the catepillar under the mulch at the base of the plant had about 3//16" of stem and the two big (bean) leaves lying on the ground with large holes in them.

The corn and other beans have just nubs and no leaves (or the grass part of the corn) left.

So, if it not cutworms but some other kind of caterpillar or more than one kind of pest involved what is the best line of defense.

I saw people using DE around the seedlings but I didn't know if that actually stopped the bugs before they did damage. I didn't know how immediate the effect was or how often I would have to apply it because of watering. Also, I saw people using cornmeal around them. Whatever it is has to be coming from under the dirt or working its way under the edge of my screen "tents" I have a lot of crickets and I'm not sure what they eat or if they could be getting in.

Thanks for this post. I'm trying to grow Papaya seedlings in ground (research says they hate their roots to be disturbed, so pots are not an option) I got one each of my two varieties to sprout. I came out yesterday and one was flat and dead. Then I saw that big cutworm! Smashed it with a rock, but I will definitely protect the others as they sprout.

Papayas are sort of a vegetable. They are classified as a herb.

I'll use twigs. We have many of those here.

Actually, reading the first post makes me think that maybe I could use a little foil wrapped around the stem of seedlings. Why have I never thought of that before???

That's a good idea about aluminum foil, but maybe as the plant grows, the foil will lift off the ground, clearing the way for a cutworm attack? I'm not sure to what extent the stem at soil level actually grows.

I would dig around the area where the damage is done, about in inch deep and see if you can find the cutworm, and kill it. They will tend to move down the row since they do not travel far each night. The old timers would say just sprinkle sevin dust down the row. I would use something like Bt if it is effective. It works on some caterpillars, not on others. Pyrethroids may also be effective and break down in a day or two. Both Bt and Pyrethroids are organic.

Be careful using foil. It can cut the stem as the plant gets bigger. You would need to remove it.

Plastic collars/cylinders made from 2 liter drink bottles work best for me for cutworm control. Each bottle makes 2 or 3 collars. I use a non serrated knife to cut the collars. Collars can be saved for future use on poles or stakes, or placed in leaf bags.

Given your description of the damage and the lateness in the season, I'm wondering if you don't have slugs??? To control slugs around my emerging bean plants, I screen compost through 1/4" hardware cloth then put a 5 or 6" band down each side of the row. Slugs move by laying down a slime trail. As soon as they crawl into the fine compost (top 1/8" dries out very fast) it sticks to their body and they're stuck... Out comes the sun, et voilà, escargots. I don't get mad, I get even.

Nice idea about plastic collars. I presume you slit those to allow them to be wrapped around a seedling. They are kind of big though, from 2 liter bottles. I'd be wanting something smaller in diameter. Actually, 3-inch diameter half liter water bottles might be just the thing, and the plastic is thinner, so you could just cut them with scissors.

I prefer to not slit the collars. Instead, I just place them over the plant and about 1/4 in deep in soil. The 4 inch diameter collar allows for the plants to grow large enough to avoid cutworm samage and to still be removed by lifting it over the plant.

Well, but if you don't slit them, and you want to remove them, you have to do so while the plant is small. The cutworms won't find their way through slits.

Actually, the collars are large enough to allow them to be removed over fairly large plants. You do have to be careful when compressing the leaves. E.g. I generally can let my tomato plants get about 18 inches tall before removing the collars. That said, slitting them would work equally well as you noted....I have about 200 collars stacked on poles. My belief is that they might not stack as well with slits.

For anything attractive to cutworms that I am starting ahead, I do so in yogurt tubs. I cut the bottom off about 1/2" high (it's now the saucer) then split the tub lengthwise and place an elastic band around it. When I plant out, I set the pot in the ground, then pull it up so only a 1/2" or so remains in the ground. If you don't pull it up, the plant can easily die of thirst. Because the tub is already split, you can easily remove it at any time.

Yes, that's a smart variant on granddad's good idea. Not sure if you need the rubber band, but it can't hurt. I'm thinking of a plastic yogurt "cup", rather than "tub".

But the beauty of grandad's idea is that the bottle also acts as a miniature plastic house with its own built in ventilation system (the uncapped lid).

I am going to have to be strict with myself and make sure I use something. Because invariably I tell myself that the cut worms won't strike this year.

Daninthedirt. The elastic band is useful because these are my starting pots... Under fluorescent lights. No elastic and they tend to expand too much.

Uh, no, I don't want to use a bottle with the neck attached. At least in my climate, I'd totally fry the seedling. I'm trying to keep out cutworms. Not keep in hot air.

I do cut the bottom out of a 3 liter coke bottle and put it over my tomatoes in the early spring. On cold nights I put the lid on to protect from frost and remove the lid the next morning. It makes a good mini greenhouse. When plants get big just take the bottle off, preferably on a cloudy day to minimize shock. I can plant about a month earlier using this method that also protects from cutworms.

I haven't had problems with cutworms in years now but I remember just using a plastic straw. Slit lengthwise then cut to fit. Slip em on after or before, no problem. Leave em and forget em, they never bothered the plant. But I'm sure someone has a problem with that.

A paper straw would prob work too, if you can find one.