Control and Prevention

How to Get Rid of Cutworms

• Make plant collars. Put a 4-inch piece of cardboard around each plant stem to help stop cutworms from reaching tender stems, especially right at transplanting. This time-consuming task works though it is only efficient for a smaller garden!
  • Or, try this method: Save toilet paper tubes, cut them in half, fill with potting soil, and stand up in a tray. Use for planting seeds. When young plants are ready, plant them, tube and all. 
• Hand pick. Go out at night with a flashlight and gloves. Pick off the cutworms and drop into soapy water; repeat this every few nights.
• Sprinkle used coffee grounds or egg shells around your plants.
• Circle stems with diatomaceous earth, a natural powder made from ground up fossils which kills insects when they walk over it.
• Apply an insecticide late in the afternoon for best control. Some readers use Bacillus thuringiensism, a natural way to kill cutworms. However, note that this bacterium may harm butterflies, an important pollinator.
• Try this folk advice from The 1963 Old Farmer’s Almanac: A mulch of oak leaves is useful against cutworms. Tansy planted near cabbages keeps them free of cutworms. A hog turned into a garden in early spring will root up cutworms.

Prevent Cutworms

• In the spring, emerging cutworms will be waiting to feast on your garden. Cut off their food supply by delaying transplanting or planting by a couple weeks if possible.
• Keep up with cultivation. The moths prefer to lay eggs in high grass and weeds. At the end of the season, plow or till the garden and mow surrounding areas to expose cutworms and destroy their winter habitat.
• Fireflies are a fun insect to have around the garden, plus they are a natural predator to cutworms. Check out these tips to attract fireflies to your garden.
• Birds are another natural predator to cutworms. Learn how to make your garden bird-friendly.