ARGH! Dang blasted #@$%*^%

[sfmathews]

While I was sitting outside Friday evening, enjoying a glass of wine and our unusually cool evening for DFW ,I noticed large moth flying among my mater plants. I walked over to look closer and it was indeed laying eggs. I haven't had one hornworm all summer, and I intend to keep it that way! BT here I come!

[Blueaussi]

Whoa, nice catch! I've watched a few butterflies lay their eggs, but never any moths.

I was out doing a some much needed weeding yesterday, and I spotted a smallish hornworm covered in wasp pupae. I left it where it was after a gleeful whoop and a bit of trash talk.

[tjg911]

blueaussie,

what a shame. i never had a thw on pepper plants, i did not know they would eat pepper plants. i've only seen them on tomato plants and some years i have none at all. in years i grew potatoes (rarely) one or two times i saw a thw on potatoes. what really surprises me is they ate the hot peppers, i'd have thought they would not eat them due to their heat.

in case you don't know, you can spray with bt to kill thw and of course never kill one with the egg sacks of parasitic wasps.

tom

[Blueaussi]

I know Bt would work, as well as spinosad a lot of other things; but I try not to spray at all. My goal is to strike a balance with nature. It doesn't always work, but I *do* try. I was out washing oleander aphids off of my milkweed this morning. It more labor intensive, but it makes me feel all green and earthy.

[coastal-tony]

Uhoh! Heres my peppers & tomatoes sitting next to each other. I grew these from seeds, all, but the Bonnie BHN 444. These guys are about a month old. I'm starting to get lots of aphid action. A local garden center told me to try VERY weak mix of original blue Dawn dishsoap & H20, any other thoughts?

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

It's the larvae of what we normally call the "Hawk Moth" or "Hummingbird Moth". These critters can get over 4" long and 1.5 centimeters in diameter. The damage on Blueaussie's plant in the first picture can take less than 36 hours.

You can pick them off and squish them, in which case the little wasps will come and carry off the carcass.

You can spray with a chemical that will give them a tummy ache when they graze on sprayed foliage.

It's kind of a case that, "If you grow tomatoes and peppers, they will come".

Ted

[Blueaussi]

Aphids are easy to kill, and the dish soap will work. The problem is they can bounce back pretty quickly. And in warmer weather, their life cycle speeds up, too. So, you can spray, but plan to spray again in about 4 or 5 days.

You can also rinse the aphids off the plants with a jet of water, if you don't want to bother with the soap. Just remember to come back and spray again every 4 or 5 days for several weeks.

[icelord]

O.K, Blue and everybodyelse, this will make all of you laugh! I have a picture but cannot upload it. My farming partner developed a fondness for a really beautiful Dr.Wyche seedling. I know, its just another plant. Wrong not this one! It was perfect. It was put in a five gallon bucket and nurtured and babied and talked to by my freind, the only container tomat on the 60 acres. And the only one not to get BT. One day, Norman came out to find "Doc" stripped bare and damaged tomatoes everywhere. He ran to the house and got his shotgun and came out and killed, vaporized the worm and the whole plant. I did not say a word. Overkill? Maybe. Satisfied? Absoulutley.


Icelord ,I feel your pain blue!