Well was out checking the plants when i spotted these guys.
Pulled them off my plant, little damage done.
Pulled them off my plant, little damage done.
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hornworms
- Thread starter toastynoodles
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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!
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
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
Yeah seems like i will be spending a little more time checking the plants now on.
Spinosad is better than BT. Spinosad kills the horn worms and many more nasties that BT doesn't touch.
toastynoodles said:Well was out checking the plants when i spotted these guys.
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 catepillar of a certain species of moth AFAIK... and from what I've heard, you don't want to see those things...
"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!
wiki answers rules!
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. 
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.
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.
I'm not sure why the prefer the olive tree over my peppers, tomatos, eggplant, a million types of herbs etc but they do.