The 6 legged blessing in the garden!

[vfem]

Well, we know my sad lose to the vine borer issue. :/

But this evening while finding a few more tomatoes I noticed a hornworm on my Italian Market Tomato plant. I was not so quick as to throw it to the chickens, as apparently this worm was already someone else's lunch!

This little guy has become lunch to a parasite wasp called a Braconid. The babies will hatch and feed (some already have) from the caterpillar rendering it weak, and by the end of the feeding the caterpillar will be so weak it will just die.

I have found a rare 1-2 hornworms this season in my garden, and I have witnesses some great deads by a large amount of beneficial insects I've managed to attract here. I am grateful for choosing not to spray anything this year on my plants (other then neem oil on my fruit trees). Mother nature can be just as giving.

Now, I need some soilder bugs to kill my squash bugs and something to be rid of the borers and I'll be fine!

(PS. The window for the vine borer to lay their eggs is OVER. Apparently they only mate and lay eggs for 2-3 weeks each season and you see the borers in the plants, it means its over and it is safe to replant!)

 

[journey11]

That's a welcome sight! You'll probably not have any next year. Nice pic too. We've talked about them on here quite a bit, so it's good to have a photo to show the wasp eggs.

 

[hoodat]

Those aren't eggs, they're cocoons. The little wasps will be hatching out of them soon and ready to start on the next batch of hornworms.

 

[vfem]

Those aren't eggs, they're cocoons. The little wasps will be hatching out of them soon and ready to start on the next batch of hornworms.

Ok maybe I should put it better, the eggs are under the skin, under the cocoons. They come up into the cocoons to metomorphisis into the actual wasp. Then free themselves and fly away. Which, in fact, I'm trying to capture a photo of them coming out if I can!

 

[obsessed]

(PS. The window for the vine borer to lay their eggs is OVER. Apparently they only mate and lay eggs for 2-3 weeks each season and you see the borers in the plants, it means its over and it is safe to replant!)

I don't know if I totally agree with that. Especially for the south. I have read that they can hatch and mate mulitple times. So Last year I had three different planting of squash/ pumpkins and lost all three to SVB. I planted an early crop by WS the seeds. Then a mid crop around june and another in late August. Each time I lost them due to the eggs being in the laid in the soil. I know you plan to solarize your soil and that will be great for next years planting.

 

[vfem]

(PS. The window for the vine borer to lay their eggs is OVER. Apparently they only mate and lay eggs for 2-3 weeks each season and you see the borers in the plants, it means its over and it is safe to replant!)

I don't know if I totally agree with that. Especially for the south. I have read that they can hatch and mate mulitple times. So Last year I had three different planting of squash/ pumpkins and lost all three to SVB. I planted an early crop by WS the seeds. Then a mid crop around june and another in late August. Each time I lost them due to the eggs being in the laid in the soil. I know you plan to solarize your soil and that will be great for next years planting.

I am pretty sure there will be another window, but Its going to be way late. I am thinking I put the tin foil in around the vines late into growth, and probably missed the vine borers and they got in. I'm thinking if I plant now, and do the tin foil in the next week or 2 after they start, I should hopefully miss them again... if not I can note it. I need to try to start keeping tracks of periods of bug infestations, and when and how I seem to miss some. Eventually, my gardening journal will be a great plant calender for our region.

 

[Greenthumb18]

I found a couple of the tomato hornworms on my tomato plants a few weeks ago, I've never had any problems with hornworms before this was my first year with them and boy were they HUGE!! When i tried to remove them from the tomato plants they didn't want to get off. You sure do have to look closely at the tomato plants to find the hornworms, the reason i thought i might have them in my garden was because i noticed some of the tomato leaves missing like something ate them. Then i looked around the plants and their the hornworm was, on the tomato plant.

 

[hoodat]

I found a couple of the tomato hornworms on my tomato plants a few weeks ago, I've never had any problems with hornworms before this was my first year with them and boy were they HUGE!! When i tried to remove them from the tomato plants they didn't want to get off. You sure do have to look closely at the tomato plants to find the hornworms, the reason i thought i might have them in my garden was because i noticed some of the tomato leaves missing like something ate them. Then i looked around the plants and their the hornworm was, on the tomato plant.

The droppings are easier to see than the horn worm. Look for large droppings. They are kind of square and quilted like a pineapple. Then start at the droppings and work your way up. Somewhere above them will be the worm.