Use of Other Plants to Attract Away Hornworms

cushman350 · April 8, 2011

Last year I found out purely by accident that the Five-Spotted Hawkmoth much prefers to lay her eggs on my wife's Datura plants than my tomatoes. There were many many more eating on the Datura and just a few on the toms. Maybe a stradegy here for sacrificial plant growing.

Timbotide · April 8, 2011

Sounds like a good idea to me.
I had way too much trouble with the horn worms last year.
I am planting some marigolds around my plants hoping to deter a few other
Types of insects.

Tim

Duh_Vinci · April 8, 2011

A friend of mine sent me a link sometime back (I bookmarked it), she suggested to look at the list of the beneficial flowers and plants listed there.

I think it summarizes well many beneficial flowers/herbs in general, that can be a good companion in the garden grow-flowers-with-vegetables

And I have to agree with "diversity" of those beneficial plants, looking at the garden seasons when I had the least amount of issues with the insect, is when I had a lot of different herbs and flowers in the main garden. This year, it will be variety again!

Regards,
D

kevinrs · April 10, 2011

gah, so that's what the host is of the hornworms? no wonder they are so bad sometimes, if it's the jimson weed that they lay their eggs on, giving them a place to live even when the tomatoes are composted and the garden tilled.

ContainerTed · April 10, 2011

Sacrificial plants??? Sounds like a lot of extra work to try and change the mind of an insect. And that is a crap shoot at best.

Too much trouble. I just kill'em.

Ted

Tom C zone 4/5 · April 10, 2011

Tobbacco hornworm, is the god given food of chickens. They'll line up like a posse of five years olds on christmas morning for a cup of them. Mine did anyway.

cushman350 · April 10, 2011

I've always had the hornworm and watch closely for poop on the white box covers and throw them up against the house for fun. Last year the worms were less of a problem in numbers on the toms. Then I noticed lots of them on the Datura and just a few on the tomatoes. Well, if so, we'll try to observe this year if the same holds true. If they prefer Datura over toms I will be more that happy to provide them with Datura. The Bees love the Datura, too.

April 8, 2011	#1
cushman350 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Wichita Falls, TX [Tomato Hell] Posts: 99	Use of Other Plants to Attract Away Hornworms Last year I found out purely by accident that the Five-Spotted Hawkmoth much prefers to lay her eggs on my wife's Datura plants than my tomatoes. There were many many more eating on the Datura and just a few on the toms. Maybe a stradegy here for sacrificial plant growing.

April 10, 2011	#5
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Sacrificial plants??? Sounds like a lot of extra work to try and change the mind of an insect. And that is a crap shoot at best. Too much trouble. I just kill'em. Ted __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

April 10, 2011	#6
Tom C zone 4/5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 253	Tobbacco hornworm, is the god given food of chickens. They'll line up like a posse of five years olds on christmas morning for a cup of them. Mine did anyway. __________________ Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains.

April 8, 2011	#2
Timbotide Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Northport Alabama Posts: 304	Sounds like a good idea to me. I had way too much trouble with the horn worms last year. I am planting some marigolds around my plants hoping to deter a few other Types of insects. Tim

April 8, 2011	#3
Duh_Vinci Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Locust Grove, VA Posts: 292	A friend of mine sent me a link sometime back (I bookmarked it), she suggested to look at the list of the beneficial flowers and plants listed there. I think it summarizes well many beneficial flowers/herbs in general, that can be a good companion in the garden grow-flowers-with-vegetables And I have to agree with "diversity" of those beneficial plants, looking at the garden seasons when I had the least amount of issues with the insect, is when I had a lot of different herbs and flowers in the main garden. This year, it will be variety again! Regards, D

April 10, 2011	#4
kevinrs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Littlerock, CA Posts: 218	gah, so that's what the host is of the hornworms? no wonder they are so bad sometimes, if it's the jimson weed that they lay their eggs on, giving them a place to live even when the tomatoes are composted and the garden tilled.