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missbeckyfishin
- Full Member
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:45 pm
- Location: Knotts Island NC
Hornworms
I just planted 3 Better Boys and 3 Early Girls. Didnt think the Hornworms would strike overnight so fast. Havent seen them but it has to be since the stems are chopped right off. Do not like using Sevendust but I had no choice. Just researched and might try BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis Insecticide.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
One - those almost certainly were not hornworms that did that kind of damage overnight, they were cutworms.
Two - you certainly did have a lot of choices, besides spreading poison Sevin in your veggie garden. Prevention for cutworms is just to put a paper collar around the stem when you plant it, or a few toothpicks in a circle just 1/4 inch away. The cutworm has to wrap itself around the stem; any barrier that prevents it from doing it, stops it from attacking the seedling. Once the plant is bigger and sturdier, the cutworms can't get it any more.
Here's a couple articles about the Sevin:
https://www.dontspraycalifornia.org/carbarylog.htm
https://www.healthyworld.org/sevin.html
Sevin is harmful to humans, to the environment, to all the aquatic life in the rivers and streams (once it washes off your plants into the soil and water table), to all the beneficial insects that would otherwise be protecting your plants and pollinating them, destroys honeybees, etc.
You can buy beneficial nematodes that work against the cutworms.
Or here's a neat little trick I found:
Cutworms also hate moisture. If you have an existing problem you can give your garden a good dowse of water or wait for a good rain. It is best to do this on a cloudy day, early in the morning or in the evening as cutworms don't appreciate sunlight very much. When cutworms surface and they will if enough water is applied you can see their holes. Wait a hour or 2 when the cutworms try to return to the soil look for their tell tale holes and simply dig them out with your hand or a small hand shovel. https://www.millingtonseed.com/tips/organic_cutworm_control.htm
The Bt should be effective against them, as would Neem oil.
Many perfectly good organic options, no reason to reach first for the persistent poison.
Two - you certainly did have a lot of choices, besides spreading poison Sevin in your veggie garden. Prevention for cutworms is just to put a paper collar around the stem when you plant it, or a few toothpicks in a circle just 1/4 inch away. The cutworm has to wrap itself around the stem; any barrier that prevents it from doing it, stops it from attacking the seedling. Once the plant is bigger and sturdier, the cutworms can't get it any more.
Here's a couple articles about the Sevin:
https://www.dontspraycalifornia.org/carbarylog.htm
https://www.healthyworld.org/sevin.html
Sevin is harmful to humans, to the environment, to all the aquatic life in the rivers and streams (once it washes off your plants into the soil and water table), to all the beneficial insects that would otherwise be protecting your plants and pollinating them, destroys honeybees, etc.
You can buy beneficial nematodes that work against the cutworms.
Or here's a neat little trick I found:
Cutworms also hate moisture. If you have an existing problem you can give your garden a good dowse of water or wait for a good rain. It is best to do this on a cloudy day, early in the morning or in the evening as cutworms don't appreciate sunlight very much. When cutworms surface and they will if enough water is applied you can see their holes. Wait a hour or 2 when the cutworms try to return to the soil look for their tell tale holes and simply dig them out with your hand or a small hand shovel. https://www.millingtonseed.com/tips/organic_cutworm_control.htm
The Bt should be effective against them, as would Neem oil.
Many perfectly good organic options, no reason to reach first for the persistent poison.