Question
I live in the Philippines and I have a few santol trees. At this time of the year, they have lots of caterpillars. In a few months(summer), as they bear fruit, the santolleaves develop wart-like growths.The locals spray Malathion to get rid of the pests or they smoke the trees with fires using dried leaves as fuel. Is there a more ecological way to control these worms and growths. Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Hi Nelson

We have a product in Canada called Bt (Bacillus thurgensis). It is a bacteria that comes in a powder form that is mixed with water and sprayed on the plants. It kills only members of the caterpillar family and is completely harmless to anything else. Hope this helps. John