Posted on 08/01/2025 6:03:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Ping to Post 699! :)
Great post!
I did NOT work in my garden today! (Good night Diana!)
THANK YOU!!!
That is excellent.
Found three tomato hornworms overall so far this week and drowned them all. Destructive. *(&#@^$@s.
Still I’m getting enough to can some stewed tomatoes up for the year.
Still VERY dry. It’s going to cool off a bunch but the drought is holding everything back. I need to water regularly, which has been hard for this horrific month mr. mm and I have been enduring. (He’s had shingles, and I’s still struggling with my own health issues.
Still I’ll get the rest of the onions pulled, and start working on processing the garlic now that its dried out for 3 weeks.
The onion crop was a disappointment. The ones that continued to grow did much better. A more acceptable size.
The carrots are starting to come up. Lettuce is doing OK and Zucchini is producing some.
Hopefully, next year will be better.
And Brussel sprouts are doing OK.
It looks like this:
is a much more concentrated mix than this:
https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-13022-Thuricide-Caterpillar/dp/B004QJ33B4/ref=sr_1_3?sr=8-3
So the higher price for the Bonide product appears to be “worth it”.
The Hi-Yield product seems to be harder to find locally or from Amazon, per my web search (but in the process I discovered Rural King apparently has Super Phosphate back in stock - yay!)
I did try BT several years back, but was not impressed with the results. However, it may have washed off in rain(s). For better or worse, the Sevin seems to stay on the plants better. (No, I don’t spray Sevin on anything to be harvested soon, and, yes, all our garden produces gets well washed.)
MOST years I don’t need to use any control measures for hornworms other than me picking them off the plants. I’ve also never seen a hornworm in my present location with the parasites, but when I was a kid I saw them a lot. Interesting, as my Dad was not exactly shy about using pesticides. Me — I’m pretty selective / limited.
Dad also had some “professional” jet spray Wasp Spray for zinging wasp and hornet nests. He got it from some professional Forestry Supply place. It was amazingly effective compared to the stuff you can buy now.* (That was over 40 years ago.) But, I suppose it was “nastier”.
*The foaming type wasp spray I bought last year generally does the job on wasps, but it takes them MUCH longer to die. I’d be afraid to take on a big hornet nest with it, esp. as I don’t run as fast any more!
We used to have a “dusk to dawn” fluorescent “cool white” light to light up our back porch and sidewalk to my building / shop. But, I replaced it last year with a motion sensor light. A result is that Luna Moths no longer get drawn to the back porch, where I can kill them. I wonder if that contributed to this summer’s crop of hornworms? I kinda hate to kill Luna Moths, because they are so spooky-beautiful, but, their progeny are just too dang destructive!
I forgot to mention, the only bees I see around any more are tiny species like sweat bees, or wood bees. Wood bees I kill at every opportunity - they do way too much damage... I’ve probably directly swatted them right out of the air than any other method!
I’m jealous! The only onions I can get to grow are recycled spring onion “bulbs” in pots. Sometimes.
(We cut off the lower 2” or so and plant those, the greens go in recipes.)
For whatever reason, this summer the starts from Aldi spring onions have done best, and Wal-Mart’s “Organic Spring Onions” just die after a bit, and maybe a little(!) growth.) Last year, the Wally World “Organic Spring Onions” grew much better than the Aldi Spring Onions. Go figure.
However - I have seen one of the moths they end up becoming - the Hummingbird Moth and they come out in the evening - saw one sipping on my hanging basket of Wave Petunias on the front porch.
Which means they ARE around and have made it to their final life stage. Not sure how something so ugly and destructive becomes something so amazing!
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