How To Get Rid Of Cutworms

You have problems with cutworms in your garden and want to know how to deter those annoying companions?

Great! Stick with me since I will show you all tips and tricks you need to know to get rid of cutworms in an easy but yet effective manner.

Cutworm Overview

Short description	Cutworms hide under the soil during the day and come out during the dark. They belong to the species of moth larvae and can do significant damage to your plants if you don’t handle them in a proper manner.
Scientific name	Noctuidae.
Lifespan	Around one year on average.
What plants do they like?	Beans, cabbage, kale, cauliflowers, peas, lettuce, carrots, celery, asparagus, peppers and many more.
Symptoms	Wilked or cut plants. You can also see cutworms with your naked eyes in the evening when they come out.
Distribution	Worldwide.
Potential damage	Cutworms can eat significant parts of your plants and your plants will therefore lose plenty of power and also your yields tend to be lower with cutworm infestation in your garden.
Control options	Chemical, biological and cultural.
Treatment difficulty	Easy – Intermediate.
Natural predators	Nematodes, wasps, stinkbugs

How to get rid of Cutworms

1. Use a slug fence to keep away cutworms

To keep away cutworms from your plants, you can just use slug fences and install them around your plants.

While this will work if you only have a few plants in your garden, it will not be a suitable measure if you have myriads of plants since the manual work you have to do to install those fences would just be too high.

Hence, while relying on this measure is perfectly fine for beginners, experts may rather want to go for measures that are easier to scale.

2. Plant collars as an alternative to slug fences

You can also just use plant collars and install them around your plants.

Not only will they do the job as well, but they will also be more eco-friendly, at least if you make those plant collars from organic materials that can decay without leaving a trace in your garden.

3. Cutworms don’t like garlic

You can also grow garlic plants in your garden to deter cutworms and other insects from your plants.

In fact, cutworms don’t like the taste of garlic at all.

If you don’t want to grow garlic in your garden, you could also just get some garlic from the store and place it next to your plants to keep away cutworms.

4. Coffee is not only good for humans

You can also use coffee grounds to get rid of cutworms.

You just have to sprinkle the material next to your plants.

Make sure that the whole ground next to your plants is covered to deter cutworms in an efficient manner.

5. Eggshells as an alternative to coffee grounds

If you are not a coffee lover and don’t drink any coffee at home, you can also just use eggshells to deter cutworms.

While this will work in some cases, it may not work every time and you may still have to take additional measures.

6. Remove cutworms by hand

If you are willing to get up in the middle of the night, you can also remove cutworms by hand, at least if the level of infestation is not too high.

This is for sure one of the easiest and the most cost-efficient method since you will not have to get any equipment.

7. Use kieselgur to get rid of cutworms

Another eco-friendly method to get rid of cutworms is to use kieselgur, also known as diatomite.

This white powder will significantly decrease cutworm populations in your garden since cutworms that get in touch with diatomite will often die after a rather short period of time.

8. Stinging nettles can help as well

You can also collect some stinging nettles and place them around your plants.

In many cases, this will be enough to deter cutworms and many other pests and you can assure a healthy growth environment for your plants.

9. Use natural predators to reduce cutworm populations

If nothing else helps, you may also want to try natural predators to get rid of cutworms.

For instance, you could just buy nematode larvae and put them into your garden.

While this might reduce the cutworm problem, you will now have to get rid of those nematodes somehow and this is therefore not the best way to get rid of cutworms.

In fact, it may only worsen the situation and you should know what you are doing before applying this method.

10. Attract birds to your garden

Since some bird species feed on cutworms, attracting birds can also be a great way to get rid of cutworm in a natural manner.

You can easily do so by just installing a birdhouse in your garden and those little helpers will greatly support your mission.

11. Chemical pesticides will do the job as well

If you don’t care about our environment, you could just also use chemical pesticides to get rid of cutworms.

However, since those chemicals are often pretty harmful to our planet, you should only use them as a measure of last resort in case nothing else really helps.

12. Proper plant care can make your plants more resistant to cutworms

Instead of having to get rid of them, you can also take measures to avoid the infestation with cutworms in the first place.

For that, you should make sure that you provide optimal growing conditions to your plants so that they can get big and strong and will be less vulnerable to cutworms.

This includes removing weeds and other plant material that could slow down the growth of your plants.

Moreover, also make sure that you provide optimal lighting conditions.

You should also make sure to water your plants on a regular basis so that they can absorb nutrients in a proper manner.

If you follow this advice, your plants will be much better able to deal with cutworm without the need for any interventions from your side.

What’s left to say?

I hope you enjoyed this article and it helps you to get rid of cutworms.

If you want to learn more about gardening in general, also make sure to check out my companion plants and my grower’s guides as well.

About the Author

My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.

In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.