Tomato plants & hornworms & tall salvias

[fadedrose]

Didn't know what the piles of junk were around my potted patio tomato, and what had eaten so many leaves and nibbled at every tomato - just in two days!! What a mess.

Didn't have anything on hand and didn't know what was eating the plant, but I thought of something that I think worked.

Put better than a half-jar of Crushed Red Pepper (99 cents from any dollar store)and some black pepper and tossed it in blender in a few cups of water. The pepper does not completely break down. Divided this into two l/2 gal. milk bottles and added water to the top. The pepper was so strong that it actually burned my throat a bit just working with it. Then I poured some of this nasty stuff into a watering can and splashed it onto my two tomato plants - one potted and one in the ground.

My son came to visit with his dog and in the garage the dog drew our attention to a huge green worm - big and fat and maybe 5" long. It must have been leaving the pepper-sprayed plants. Anyway, no more damage to the plants. Just did another app because we had rain (finally). Garden book described this creature as a hornworm...

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tompests/msg0820271825059.html?24

Can't use it on the salvias anymore. The hummingbirds finally came back after being MIA for over a month and that's their favorite plant. The buds are just coming out so the birds won't have any bad effects.

These salvias I grew from seed, 24-30" plants that bloom later than the small ones. They kept the hummers around till 9/29 last year....Will have to stick to a teasp. of palmolive in a quart of water from now on.

[Kali]

1. might have been a coincidence

caterpillar was probably headed off to pupate (will turn into a large sphinx moth)

most people just pick them off and dispose of them, I have a phobia and use bt for caterpillars
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05556.html

[fadedrose]

3. I never saw it on the plant, only saw the damage nt

[Gormy Cuss]

2. A red pepper solution won't affect hummingbirds.

Red pepper doesn't bother birds. I add cayenne to my birdseed to dissuade squirrels. I don't know about black pepper.

[fadedrose]

4. Does the cayenne work to dissuade sqirrels..

I have only a few but they are persistant...

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Yes, but squirrels have short memories. They'll try again after a few weeks.

Cayenne powder in bird feeders is highly recommended. Hot sauce or a wet solution isn't.

I use a cayenne and dish detergent-based solution on the corners of my raised beds to keep out all manner of small animals away.

[XemaSab]

6. You're right; it won't bother the birds

I have never heard this trick before, and it's a good one.

I wonder if it works on mice. Last year was the first year that we've had a problem with mice, and I think it was because they were eating the birdseed.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. So far the only night critters who don't seem to be bothered by it are the raccoons.

I felt pretty cruel the first time I saw a squirrel react after it got a snoutful but it didn't come back to the feeder for weeks after that.

Cheap powdered cayenne from the dollar store does the trick.

eta: IIRC you have dogs. I don't know how they'd react -- wouldn't want them to snarf it up and then have unpleasant consequences later.

[XemaSab]

8. They totally ignore the bird seed

:shrug:

[HopeHoops]

9. If you see a bunch of rice-grain sized things attached to the back of the horn worm - LEAVE IT!

Those are the eggs of the Trichogramma wasp. It is a tiny black stingless wasp that lays eggs on a host and the larva consume the host from the inside (killing it). It will slow down on the damage it does as it begins to die and you'll have a fresh batch of the wasps to continue the work. They are also territorial so within a few years you shouldn't see any horned worms at all. Best control method there is.

[LynneSin]

10. What is Telly Savalis doing in your tomato plants?