How can I prevent cicadas from damaging my plants? Assuming they actually will, there are several solutions.
- You can wrap netting, or insect exclusion screens, around small trees or individual tree limbs to keep the cicadas off them. You
How can I prevent cicadas from damaging my plants? Assuming they actually will, there are several solutions.
- You can wrap netting, or insect exclusion screens, around small trees or individual tree limbs to keep the cicadas off them. You can get this netting from stores that sell landscaping supplies.
- You can spray them off with a hose.
- You can manually pick them off with your hand.
- You can use insect barrier tape or a sticky solution like “Tanglefoot Pest Barrier”. Not my favorite idea, because it will probably pull their tarsal claws off.
- See Green Methods for more ideas.
Here is an example of netting being used to contain cicadas, except in this case the cicadas are being kept next to the tree branch and not away from it:
As you might imagine, if the netting can keep them inside, it will also keep then outside.
We recommend that you don’t bother with pesticides for a number of reasons.
- New cicadas will continually fly onto your trees from neighbor’s yards, making pesticides futile.
- Your pets could become poisoned from ingesting too many treated cicadas.
- Collateral damage — you end up killing other insects like honey bees and butterflies.