bweber
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Location: ohio

garden full of pests

I checked my garden after work on Friday and it was beautiful...then 2 hours later half of my peppers were gone. I thought the deer got into the fence but then I found this HUGE green catapillar. And then found 2 of his friends. Today I dug and pulled up a couple potatoes for dinner to find something is feasting on them as well. What could be eating potatoes and how do I get rid of them. Or is it too late and pull them all up and be done for the year?

hit or miss
Green Thumb
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Location: central Kansas

I'd probably go ahead and dig the taters now. As for the caterpillars, hand pick them and do what you will!

bweber
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Location: ohio

Thanks, thats what I thought. Those catapillers are the size of a finger and did alot of damage in a short time.

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applestar
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Most likely a hornworm
:arrow: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=94346#94346

Are the potatoes getting gnawed on with chunks missing or do they have blackened tiny holes and tunnels? In my garden, the chipmunk and possibly mice have found the potatoes tasty last year, and probably this year as well. the tunnels in my garden are due to wireworms damage -- orange segmented hard worms that are larvae of click beetles.

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Fig3825
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Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Just out of curiosity, are wireworms and mealworms similar? They sure look similar and I remember feeding them to my captured frogs and lizards when I was a kid...

bweber
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I am heading out to dig up those potatoes now so I will hopefully know soon what is eating them. the funny thing is the white potatoes are just fine and they are in a hill right next to the red potatoes that are getting eaten. The tops are looking bad on the red ones also lots of black spots and turning yellow. Thanks for all your help, this is my first year at a garden.

DoubleDogFarm
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Sounds like you may have potato blight also.
https://www.cropinfo.net/Potatoblight.htm
Symptoms
Late blight may appear on leaves, stems, and tubers. Leaf symptoms appear as pale green water soaked lesions. These lesions are usually at the tips or margins of the leaves, but not always. The lesions grow into brown or purplish-black lesions which sometimes have a yellow halo. The halo is not always present in late blight infections. During humid conditions a white growth of mycelium and spores can be seen on the underside of the leaves. Lesions also appear on the petioles and stems as black, greasy areas. Stem lesions may girdle the stem and kill the foliage above the lesion. Stem lesions were prevalent during the 1995 season in Malheur County and Southwestern Idaho.
Eric

bweber
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I found only a few pink earthworms, 1 grub and 1 shiney black beetle looking thing, and he had pinchers on his head.



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