Cut the stems long, choosing flowers that have just opened. Harvesting: Asters make lovely cut flowers. These flowers attract bees and butterflies, and resist deer. Mature plants will benefit from division after two or three years of growth. This plant tends to spread and reseed itself, forming a colony over time if volunteer plants are not removed. It tolerates heat and drought well, but will benefit from an occasional watering in especially dry weather. Growing: This plant prefers dry and or average soil, but also adapts well to rocky, shallow soil or clay. Transplant the seedlings after the last frost of spring. To start the seed indoors, sow it in a flat keep the soil evenly moist and at a temperature of 65-70 degrees F until germination, which should take place within 14-20 days. Therefore, it will make it difficult for caterpillars to move and eat.Sowing: Direct sow the Aster Ericoides seed in late fall or early spring, planting it on the surface, compressing the soil slightly, and watering it once. This powder is harmless to humans but irritates caterpillars. Using gloves, pick off caterpillars on plants and dispose of them in a bucket of soapy water. Release beneficial insects to the garden that eat caterpillars, such as parasitic wasps. Spray this mixture on the plants, but be aware it will also be spicy to humans. Chili seeds can be cooked in water to make a spicy spray that caterpillars don't like. Be sure to coat plants, since caterpillars need to ingest Bt for it to be effective. For an organic solution, spray plants with a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which specifically affects the larval stage of moths and butterflies. Solutions: Even though caterpillars are diverse, they all chew on plant parts and can cause significant damage if present in large numbers. The best solution is to remove the infected plants and dispose of the plant material off-site. If the plant is infected with a bacterial or fungal pathogen, there is no course of treatment that cures the diseased plants. Keep it off the leaves and make sure granular products are watered into the soil well. In the event of nutritional deficiencies, the best solution is to use a granular or water-soluble liquid fertilizer, and apply it to the soil at about half the recommended dosage.

Water container plants until excess water drains out the bottom water in-ground plants until the soil is soaked but there isn’t standing water on the surface. For lack of water, immediately water the plant using room temperature rainwater, bottled spring water, or filtered tap water. Once hormones within the plant begin the process of senescence, it’s irreversible. Solutions: If flower withering is a natural progression due to age, there is nothing that can be done to slow or stop the process. Therefore, it will make it difficult for caterpillars to move and eat.

White heath aster seedlings