Question
I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. I have a large white bougainvillea on a trellis on a southeast-facing wall that is about 5 years old. It has normally been healthy and prolific. It gets lots of good care. Since the early spring, something has been eating the ends of the new growth. Whatever it is also knits some of the older leaves together with web-like threads. When I open those leaves, there is nothing inside that looks like an insect or eggs. There is a sidewalk next to the bed in which the plant in question lives. The sidewalk is now often covered with lots of tiny black "specks" close to the bed. I cannot find any caterpillars, or insects of any sort on the plant. I have sprayed the plant with a soap-based solution several times to no avail. I have also trimmed it back once. It grew back with lots of blooms, but the "eaters" returned as well. I am at a loss. I don't like to use poison but I also want my bougainvillea to be healthy and beautiful as in the past. Do you have any ideas?
Thanks,
Robby Adcock
[email protected]

Answer
Robby, you have a problem with caterpillars that are feeding at night and retreating during the day; spray your boug with Bacillus Thuringiensis, better known as BT, it is non poison, and it acts by effecting the digestive system of the caterpillar, it stops feeding and subsequently dies... just follow the directions on the bottle/container, just apply to undersides of leaves and let nature take its course. Nick