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Battling Hornworms

W

WilliamD

Hi Guys,
Is anyone else battling hornworms on their plants? I've picked 4 off so far, but not before one almost completely decimated a habanero. All my superhots and a few habs are in large pots up on a large plexiglass table in an ideal spot in the yard and out of reach of dogs, chickens, etc. I assume the larvae of these guys develop in the soil or on the plant, right? They don't fall from trees nearby or climb up the table to get to my plants? If such is the case that they grow up to be that big entirely on an around the plant, I guess I just need to be a lot more vigilant. I'd like to hear others' thoughts about these nasty critters.
thanks,
Bill
 
I hate those things! :flamethrower:
I dont know where they come from, but I get them every year!
I usually walk thru the garden looking at the ground,, they leave ALOT of droppings,even if they havent eaten half the leaves yet!
Sometimes they are hard to spot, but if there is doo doo on the ground , there is one on that plant somewhere! :)

Kevin
 
Look at the underside of the leaves.

There you will find the small opaque eggs the size of a large pinhead.

The grow very fast.

If enough worms are present, they can take down an entire plant over night.

I used Seven spray on the plants.

It worked great .
 
Just picked one off my habanero a few hours ago. Cliped it up with a pair of pliers it was in agony squirming. then i took my lighter and had a little fun. Boy it did not like FIRE MUAHAHAHA!!! Stay off my mofo plant hornworms!!!
 
I have a small enough garden that I can just kill them by hand and be ok. I dont seem to get them on the plants that have a well established BFilm. On the plants that have only had a few shots of AACT, I get one every now and then. I am now dropping them in to a spider web...
 
"Say hello to my little friend"​


Charlotte :P​

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I took this opportunity to educate my son a little about nature.​
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I usually don't get them often, but when I do like the others I usually have a few. Once you see dark little bits "droppings" you know you have them. They are hard to spot in the daytime, but I usually turn on a flashlight and find them pretty easy after dark and just drop them into my fish tank.

Last year I found a large black widow and decided to drop a fairly large one in it's web. I was surprised at how much fight the worm had. It would try and spear the spider with it's horn whenever it came to close. The fight went on for about 30 min until it eventually got wrapped and bitten.
 
DatilDaddy said:
That look is priceless.
Click to expand...

A little bit of fear, little bit of curiosity, and a touch of sadness for the worm... all rolled in to one look. I'm glad to see he feels for the worm a little and isnt sadistic like me yet.
I have good reason to though, bastard was eating holes in my jalapeno leaves. :confused:
 
Hmm. I've got a wren that is always working over my tomato plants, and so far this year I have found only one tiny hornworm and no frass bigger than sand grains. I like this bird. I see hawk moths (hornworm adults) flying around at night working the morning glories that are coming over my wall, so I know they're around.

Potato leaf beetle--now there's my pest, but it has been staying on my cape gooseberry (a nightshade) and mostly leaving my peppers alone. However, that plant is also host to a healthy population of flea beetles, which do get out and eat holes in my pepper leaves, so I'm about to yank out the cape gooseberry to give my peppers a break. I hope all the pests don't decide to jump ship and start attacking the peppers!

Haven't had to spray since mid-spring when I had aphids. Knock on wood.
 
For any type of worm ;go to a feed store and get a bag of dycidinous earth ( not sure I spelled it right) and sprinkle it around the base of your plants . It's like a crushed coral and the worms won't cross it becuz it cuts them and they die .I use it in my horse corral and it keeps the flies down cuz it kills maggots too ,Plus why would you spray bug killer on something that you are going to eat ( DUH) Hope this helps JT
 
I can not stand those pests!! I took this photo about 4 weeks ago and found around 4 of them in my garden. Here he is eating the tops of my tomato plants. Since then I have found two on my Habs which of course are the only pepper that has produced no full pods yet too. He was munching along like crazy when I took this picture. He almost scared the crap out of me too when you are a nose length away and then realize he is there while tending to your plants. I was at first stunned since he looked cool then realized he was eating my plant. No sir I grabbed some needle nose pliers from the garage and pulled him off the plant to die in the yard. He lunged/stretched to bite the pliers as I applied pressure to grab and remove him. Yes I agree I can't stand them either but I have no suggestion other than remove them as you see them.

Great pic of the eggs I gotta look for those now that I see what they look like too.


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Heck I tried pulling one off the plant wit my hand , and the SOB wacked me with that darn hook on da thum nail ! Has anyone gotton nailed by one ..... reckon the basterds are poisonus no , does anyone know ?
 
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