Does any one know a good way, besides picking them all off, to get of the hornworms that attack my tomato plants every year? They're big and fat (and gross), I just usually toss them outside the garden to the birds. I don't like to use chemicals!!! Ever, ever!!
Horn Worms
I cut the branch they are on and move them someplace safe. They turn into the beautiful Hummingbird Moth.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/4656/
I didn't know that!
Who'da thunk that something so gross-looking could turn out so gorgeous?
The Hummingbird moth is beautiful and Huge! It's just they're catapillars are like hoover vacuums...
I have them every year. They attack and devour the tomato plants sometimes over night! They are gross and ugly. My DH said we get them as we live near a marsh or wetlands, what ever you call it. Last year if memory serves correct, we had at least 14 of them.
I tell my DH and he takes care of them. I don't want to know what he does with them.
I have a "sacrificial" patch of Nicotiana, which they also love to munch. I take them off the tomatoes and put them on the Nicotiana.
Or plant a big patch of datura (or any Solanaceae) and put them there! The cats may be ugly & destructive, but the moths are just incredible. The night pollinators are often overlooked, (and need protection from those bug zappers that do not kill mosquitos!) but they're needed for 4 oclocks, nicotiana, daturas, pentas, yuccas...
I once watched as a big moth unfurled (it's the only word for it) it's long proboscis to drink from a 4 oclock. It was crazy cool.
They turn into a beautiful moth after they eat all your tomato plants!! They are one of the few things that will eat daylilies, too.
Martha
They eat daylilies too! Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to plant some of the nicotiana and some of the other flowers that keep the bugs away. I'd rather do it that way, surround the veggie garden with flowers, it's looks pretty all summer!
And if picking them up is a "texture issue" get yerself a box of those exam gloves. They're really good for cuticle protection while potting up, and great for putting a layer between you and a icky bug!
Good advice everyone - I took notes! (Ned - careful with the four letter words!)
I love you, Sherrie! -
"You can pick your friends,
and you can pick your nose,
but you can't pick your friend's nose."
LOL!
My control program for hornworms involves a pair of scissors. Also, when I see a Hummingbird Moth, he or she gets a quick trip to moth heaven.
ackkkkk!!!
Just what I was thinking. Eeeewwww!
I love the hummingbird moths -- I call mine Mothra (although I probably have more than one) ... I just move the caterpillars off my tomatoes to another edible plant like nicotiana ... wish I could get a good picture though -- they are rather fast!
Hey, crockny, wasn't Mothra a great movie?
lol. Love that Mothra! Now if only I could get the three little singing fairy ladies to sing the winter moths and others out of my garden before they lay their eggs {they can sing to the Asiatic lily beetles, too} gardening would be great!
Moth,oops, Martha!
As long as I don't get Godzilla in my garden ...
I believe all caterpillars can be controlled with Bt. It's a biological
insecticide safe for organic gardens. You should also watch for
hornworms with small white eggs attached to them. These are the eggs of a parasitic wasp whose larvae feed on the hornworm. If you don't let nature take it's course and allow the eggs to hatch, you won't get a new batch of wasps to naturally control the "green gobblers". Once the eggs have been laid the catterpillar stops feeding on greenery. You can move the whole branch and worm to a vacation spot away from the garden and
forget about them.
Godzilla can come in my garden but, ONLY if he eats my lily beetles!
There are lily beetles?????
Oooooh, yeeeesss!!! Check out this thread/forum:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/691618/
Here is info on red lily beetle if you have not already experienced this nasty red monster and the disgusting children. http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/neweng/2002040522017914.html
Oh yes, don't get me started. I fight them for two stargazer lilies every year. They won last year.
Martha
Thanks for the link on lily beetles. I have lots of lilies and I intend to win the battle against these creepy beetles!
You probably don't have them yet, Michaela, thank the gardening gods. but keep a sharp eye out for their cute little red butts or their disgusting larval poo on your lily plants. though by the time you see the poo, they have gotten to most of the foliage. They only like Asiatic or true lilies, though, and they don't bother Hemerocallis, or daylilies.
Isn't it amazing how this thread turned to gardening talk?
Martha
Oh, I'm sorry, forgive me for talking "gardening talk" - I didn't know it wasn't allowed. (LOL!)
Believe me, I am willing to resort to chemical warfare to protect my lilies!
They are at least easy to spot. If you check every day they are easy to hand pick, put one hand under in case they drop. Here is a pic of one of the red devils. http://www.ladybug.uconn.edu/hotissues/RedLilyBeetles.html
You have to get both larvae and adults because they both eat the foliage. and buds.
Martha
I've read here and other places that Four-O-Clocks are deadly to them, and they love them :))
I'm gonna plant a bunch this year just to see if it works.
Oh - I did see one or two of those last year - I thought they were Japanese beetles and killed them instantly!
I have LOTS of four o'clock seeds - now I can put them to good use :-)
Around the base of your lilies. I also use chemical warfare on them.....had no choice. I will not stop growing lilies due to some ugly red bug who poops on my lilies!! Besides, I have over 30 different ones planted out there and over 100 more bulbs coming this spring.
I haven't decide how to approach the problem yet.
Do I want the 4 o clocks away from the lilies to lure the bugs away, or do I want the 4 o clocks near the lilies to kill the bugs that come too close...maybe a bit of both?
I forget that if you did not grow up around the New England area you don't know what Japanese Beetles look like. They have always been here as long as I can remember. Here is some info on this other munching machine. I used milky spore several years ago and the population has been getting smaller every year. Coincidence? Who knows, I use the same method for disposing of all beetles. Hand pick every day then shmush or send for a soapy swim in a bucket with a top. Shmushing I must admit is the most satisfying. :)
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/housing/japanese-beetle/jbeetle.html