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Garden Gate:  Am I naive...  |
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clothedinscarlet
True Blue Farmgirl
1333 Posts
Siobhan
Battle Creek
MI
USA
1333 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 06:36:03 AM
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...to think there really is only ONE hornworm in my tomatoes? Really? Just one? I find it hard to believe. I caught the little bugger yesterday and sent him peacefully on to God's great garden in the sky (sorry, God) with my pruning shears. I pruned all of my tomato plants and didn't see a single other one. It's just too good to be true. I've battled those stinkin caterpillars with every single tomato garden I've ever had. And I was hoping that I'd never see them here. When I saw that one yesterday I started screaming..."No! No no no no no!!!!" I'm surprised the neighbors didn't come running to check on me LOL!
Could there really only be one and not an infestation? Is that even possible? I've always found a whole legion of them in the past when I finally discovered them.
Farmgirl Sister #1110
Siobhan - AKA Liza-Jane (my farmgirl name), wife to my best friend, Trent, and mommy to Camden (11/28/05) and Bennett (7/11/07). and Truman (7/28/09) |
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vegetarian farmer
True Blue Farmgirl
249 Posts
Jane
Freedom
pa
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 06:46:57 AM
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Maybe you had a good colony of Predator Wasp that wiped them out. Predator wasps are the things that lay eggs on the hornworm. Never kill a hornworm with a bunch of white eggs on it. The hornworm will die anyway because the wasp larva feed on the worm. It is kind of gross, the worm dries up to just a shell.Then you get a hatching of predator wasps that eat all kinds of nasties. I normally only get two or three hornworms a years because the Wasps always seem to find them first and lay those wonderful eggs on them. Then I have no more hornworms.
Jane
http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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clothedinscarlet
True Blue Farmgirl
1333 Posts
Siobhan
Battle Creek
MI
USA
1333 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 07:05:58 AM
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We do have a lot of wasps around. Maybe that is the case. I sure hope so. I hate hornworms!
Farmgirl Sister #1110
Siobhan - AKA Liza-Jane (my farmgirl name), wife to my best friend, Trent, and mommy to Camden (11/28/05) and Bennett (7/11/07). and Truman (7/28/09) |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 4:40:41 PM
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Siobhan, I have never seen one one any of mine til the other day. And it was just one. That's all. And he is no longer with us too. Bad worm.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 4:49:06 PM
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All it takes is one moth to lay hundreds of eggs that hatch out to hornworms, you won't see them til they are alittle bigger, and they grow really fast, but, my hens just love them and so do the ravens, so they are not wasted,hehehehe...
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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gypsy goat
True Blue Farmgirl
673 Posts
mary jo
michigan
673 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 06:27:53 AM
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there has been times when we have only found 1-so hopefully you will be ok. i'm glad i am not the only one that yells outside when i am by myself-i know my neighbors think i'm crazy
farmgirl#1362 whatever you are be a good one-abe lincoln |
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Garden Gate: Am I naive... |
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Am I naive...
