Hydrangea Leaf Tier
Hydrangea Leaf Tier
Do you grow white flowering Hydrangeas? If your plants are Annabelle, Incrediball or other form of Hydrangea arborescens you might want to take a close look at the leaves. (Some people have also reported this pest on climbing hydrangeas.) In May there is a sneaky larvae at work that is called a “leaf tier.” This little worm, Olethreutes ferriferana, ties leaves together to form a protective little pocket. Once hidden in this way it proceeds to eat the foliage and developing flower buds.
If you see tied leaves such as the one pictured below, clip them off and throw them in the garbage. You can spray the shrub with spinosad (we have Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew) to kill other larvae that may hatch and try to do the same thing. Once inside tied leaves, however, the spinosad won’t be effective, so remove these immediately if the look of these leaves bother you. Fortunately, the plants will still have time to make new flowers on these stems.
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Is there a way to prevent this?
Nancy,
Prevent? No. Control? Yes. Pinch off the affected leaves and throw out,but not in the compost.
What is spinous ad?
Spinosad is a bacteria similar to Bt that kills larvae.
I have these on my Annabelles and they do very little damage. They are native and part of the ecosystem so I leave them alone. Birds feed the caterpillars to their young, and if not they mature into the leaf tier moths. Spiders also shelter in their folded leaf structures. No need to kill them.
Do they affect the hydrangea blooms?
Since the flowers are at the ends of the branches, and these are eating those ends, yes, flowering is affected.