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hornworms

Well was out checking the plants when i spotted these guys.;)Pulled them off my plant, little damage done.
hornworms1.jpg

hornworms2.jpg
 
You got them early. Good eyes! They are very hard to spot. One of them can defoliate a small pepper plant in 24 hours. They love tomatoes too. Nasty little buggers.
 
Wow, those are huge for not having any damage on your plants. Good job man. Trial by Fire! Fire! Fire!
 
Wow...that brings back memories. I used to get alot of those when I lived in Albuquerque. They were my box turtles favorite delicacy. I would just hold them up to the plant and they would pick them off. Too cold here in Washington so I don't see them anymore. We get slugs.
 
Man, you lucked out. Hornworms stripped one of my jalapenos to the bone last year, in less than a day, every single leaf. By the time we got home, the plant was a bunch of green twigs radiating out of a pot, with a couple of jals hanging off the end of the twigs. They are really hard to spot, even when you know they're there. They leave telltale droppings in a pile directly below where they're hanging out. Even when you see the 10-20 round droppings and know almost exactly where the worms are, they can still take two people 10 minutes to find.

Just keep in mind, where there are two hornworms, there are others. You have only fought the first battle. Fortunately they do not seem to hang out in the hundreds or thousands, like aphids. More like in 10's or 20's. Prepare for war!
 
I have yet to see one, and I hope I don't. And even if there is one lurking around, I'll probably be looking for a half-hour before I even see anything... they seem to blend in so damn well with the stems and leaves. And yet, they look freaking huge.
 
Good find. Now would be a good time to spray with some BT (thoricide, Dipel dust). I was getting them like crazy on my tomatoes until I started spraying BT on the plants. Haven't had a problem with them the last couple of years since I started. Never found 1 on my pepper plants though. Thankfully.

Easier way to find them when you know they are there somewhere on the plant is to spray the plant with some water. They will start trashing around making them easier to spot.

jacob
 
I've heard that they show up real well under a black light at night. I haven't had to try and see if they do or not but it might be an easier way to spot them on the plant.


Alan
 
jjs7741 said:
Good find. Now would be a good time to spray with some BT (thoricide, Dipel dust). I was getting them like crazy on my tomatoes until I started spraying BT on the plants. Haven't had a problem with them the last couple of years since I started. Never found 1 on my pepper plants though. Thankfully.

Easier way to find them when you know they are there somewhere on the plant is to spray the plant with some water. They will start trashing around making them easier to spot.

jacob

+1 on the BT. All natural bacteria and completely safe for soil, plants and humans. Pick off as many as possible and drown in a bucket of water. BT will take care of the rest
 
Spinosad is better than BT. Spinosad kills the horn worms and many more nasties that BT doesn't touch.

Spinosad is not particularly new, having been granted organic status by the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) in 2003. However few home gardeners are aware of its potential uses.

Spinosad is especially effective on caterpillars and thrips. If you're a flower gardener, your ears should prick up on this one. Thrips and caterpillars are the two most important pest groups on annual and perennial flowers. Perhaps the best thing about spinosad-containing products is their safety for people and beneficial insects. Spinosad is safe for adult butterflies and many insect predators and parasites. It falls into the safest human health category as well.

Bacillus thuringiensis, known for years to savvy gardeners as "Bt", has been a standard weapon for the war against caterpillars. As an insecticide, Bt is a safe, selective product for caterpillars. However, Bt lacks staying power. Instead of Bt's one or two days' residual, spinosad keeps killing for up to four weeks. In addition, spinosad kills thrips, which Bt doesn't faze.
 
toastynoodles said:
Well was out checking the plants when i spotted these guys.;)Pulled them off my plant, little damage done.
hornworms1.jpg

hornworms2.jpg

Sweet baby Jesus what the hell are those things??? I have never seen one of those before in my life! Is it actually a worm or is it a catepillar? Looks like an alien!
 
"The tomato hornworm ought not be confused with Manduca sexta, otherwise known as the tobacco hornworm, which, while of the same family- Solanaceae- live in somewhat differing regions, although they can be found in the same region and are often mistaken for one another. The only real way to tell the difference is to get up close and personal: the tomato hornworm will always have eight V-shaped lateral markings on its body, while the tobacco hornworm will have seven diagonal lines. "

wiki answers rules!
 
...and an easy way to remember the difference is the "seven diagonal lines" resemble a cigarette, therefore it is a Tobacco Hornworm. The "eight V-shaped lateral markings" look like cigarettes broken in half, therefore it's the Tomato Hornworm (because he quit smoking).:lol:
 
Wikipedia had a slightly different way of remembering when I read its article a while back; the straight lines meaning cigarettes/tobacco was the same, but the eight "V"-shaped markings could lead to the idea of V8--tomato juice--and signify the tomato hornworm. Either way, I would rather not have to come across them to figure out which one it is to begin with. :P
 
I doesn't matter which one it is, if you see one with a horned tail kill the SOB or feed it to your chooks. ;) The more they eat the bigger they get; they eat a lot very quickly and both types do equal damage.

Last year I had a lot of damage on my maters from horn worms. This year I sprayed with Spinosad early this spring and haven't seen a single one yet, knock on wood. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. :)
 
Man this thread must have jinxed me. Went out this morning around 9 and checked my bhuts and all was good. Came back around 3 and saw a few holes in a leaf. Looked under and saw the first honworm of the season. Litlle @#$%. Tiniest little thing. Probably no bigger than a grain of rice. Caught him mid-meal and he had already chomped out holes about three times his size- in only 5-6 hours. Had to pick him off with a toothpick he was so small. Checked the rest and fortunately he was riding solo. Sprayed all the other plants with BT and hopefully that does it.
 
I've had a few of these in the past. Big buggers. They attack my sacrifice tree first. Olive tree in a pot. They love it. No biggie if they munch on this. I look every other day for them there. Damn hard to see. I chopped off about 20 branches one time and was washing them before drying them out ( for tea blends ) and two were in the bunch I chopped. One and a half actually, my scissors chopped one in half and I didn't even see it.

I'm not sure why the prefer the olive tree over my peppers, tomatos, eggplant, a million types of herbs etc but they do.
 
Saw the first baby of the season yesterday on my Aunt Gertie's Gold tomato plant. Starting a couple of weeks earlier than the last few years. Looked like he just hatched he was so small. Not even any holes in the leaves yet. Time to start spraying.

jacob
 
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