The first time we ever grew tomatoes, we were over there just flipping through pruning and such and rolled a leaf over to find that ALIEN of a creature – the Tomato Hornworm.
We found this one on Saturday, and still… even though I was looking for hornworms… it still scared the crap out of me. haha
Last year I would drop them in a little cup of soapy water, because I really didn’t understand anything but the fact that this lil green monster was chewing my tomato leaves down to nubs! But since learning about the problems with bees… and how crops are pollinated… and all the other stuff you learn when you dig a lil bit under the surface – we have learned that these guys turn into the Hawk Moth. We recently had a discussion on twitter/facebook about this and here is a link to even more info on the Hawk Moth/Tomato Hornworm.
Since we like the hawk moth, we decide to just take those green aliens to a nearby plant that is not on our property (haha) and let them free. We are considerate like that.
We have seen quite a few lately (we are in West Texas), so if you haven’t started looking – better get to it. And if you live near us… you better definitely be checking… just sayin’.
Also a few other lil critters have shown up – not sure what all of them are… but did snap a few pics.
Aunt Deb thought had a few ideas, but I dunno.. never seen this one before and I don’t think anyone has nailed it yet. Give it a shot?
… this next one, well we kinda caught these two… ahem… umm.. well… kinda… “in the moment”
Are you infested yet? Anyone have any pests they can’t get rid of or maybe a new tip to keep the squash bugs at bay? Share with the class, please.
I’m right there with that visceral lurch that happens when you flip a leaf and find something large clinging to its belly. From all the “$12 super-secret tomato-growing” e-books being hawked on the Internet, you’d think you can let the hornworms chomp away… if I understand the hype, a tomato plant doesn’t need leaves (except those exact three leaves that the e-book marketing dude will tell you about for just $12).
I spotted a Japanese beetle on an onion blossom yesterday. This does not bode well for the bean plants; in past years, Japanese beetles have ravaged the beans. This year, I’ll try sprinkling the leaves with crushed limestone; I’ve heard it discourages leaf-eating.
I was infested with these little buggers a few months ago. I picked off what I could. They really loved my mint plants. I would shake their containers and three or four of them would fall out. Shudder. I am also having issues with flea beetles. For something so tiny they do a lot of damage.
And just for the record… total brain fart on the name of that moth. I knew it was a Sphinx & yet called it a hawk. Cuz… well I don’t know really. Oh well.