Posted on 09/25/2015 7:25:07 PM PDT by greeneyes
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Sounds like you have green tomato hornworm .
Best treatment is to hand pick them off plants as the larva feed on tomatoes , peppers , and potatoes.
They will feed primarily on folliage and fruit. They have a voracious feeder as their life-cycle is so short.
The moth lays its eggs on the underside of plants early in the spring . The pupae will overwinter in the soil .
Pick them off selectively, and see if they have white protuberancs on the body as there is a parasitic wasp which needs the hornworm to complete its life-cycle.
The hornworm are a larval stage of a moth that completes it life cycle in only 4-6 weeks.
(P.S.: If you are a fisherman , even cut in 2 inch sections , they wonderfull freshwater panfish bait)
Consider putting the almost ripe fruit, elevated off the ground on top of any large cans in the garden.
Frequently , overnight cold ground will chill the fruit , thus slowing down the ripening; use whatever heat you can get this late in the season.
I hear you. Sounds like a good idea. However, it’s remained quite warm here so far. I think it’s just the variety. The black diamonds ripened weeks ago.
I think Northern Iowa probably got a lot of the rain here in the Pacific NW didn't get....sounds like your garden and orchard really thrived...
I’m recovering quickly. Thanks!
Took a trailer load of yard waste—not compostable— in today, and brought home 3 over ripe melons, and about 20 pounds of huge, 12-15” x 3-4” cucumbers for the chickens. The cukes would have been fine for sour dills, but somebody just tossed them, several melons, and bunches of tomato plants with lots green tomatoes on them. Burns me to see people throw God’s bounty in the trash.
We MIGHT get a shower or two tonight & this coming week. No danger of frost through next Sunday, which will be 2 weeks past average 1st frost date. Unfortunately, we had the bean & squash killer at the end of August; they has been some recovery, but it really did a job on them.
Have about 3/4 of the spuds dug, and they look good, and are mostly usable sizes; very few tiny ones, though not a lot of really large ones, either.
The day lily we salvaged last time we took a load to the landfill has 4 large, independent stems with buds, one almost open; and a couple of smaller new plants. When I transplanted it, the bulb was shedding new bulblets, and it must have liked its new home.
Trying to get other projects finished before winter, si what’s left of the garden is pretty much on its own.
Good luck with, and prayers for, the surgery.
Not much in the way of gardening happened at my place last week. Mostly enjoying the tomatoes and keeping the patch of late greens watered.
We bailed off to Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO on Friday for the last two nights of sprint car racing for this season. I had some trouble with the awning on the WhinnyBago and trashed one of the struts, so I’ve got a trip to Camping World in the near future to have that replaced.
I got a good bit of work done in the pond in the evenings last week, and another four hours or so after we got home yesterday. I’m so very close to being finished with the cleanout. I expect to have that wrapped up this week if the weather holds, then get the posts set and stringers hung for the fishing dock. Once that is done I’ll spread a bit of rock in the bottom and will be ready to re-core the dam. That is going to be a happy day.
Do your large, green yucky worms have little white things all over them? If they do, they have been parasitized by wasps (Braconidae) & you should leave them so the wasps will hatch out. I had one earlier this year - very creepy looking, but I was happy the worm was not damaging my plants any more and a host for the wasps that would take out other hornworms. Here’s a link with decent pics & info:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-04_braconid_wasp_on_hornworm.htm
I actually feel sorry for those icky worms now....;(
Howdy, I have a small green chili plant. I see I have a small green chili on it the length of a quarter. How do I pick it off the plant? Pull on it? Cut it? When do I. It is the first time the plant has produced anything other than the white flowers. The plant is a indoor plant.
Cut them with scissors...
Thank you!
Help! I had a garden emergency
While watering, I my hose bent a squash vine...Not completely crushed, but I can see where it bent.
Anyone know if I could splint the vine with Popsicle sticks and painter tape to repair it?
Other ideas?
Sorry, I just now saw this. I wouldn’t worry about it. I bend stems inadvertently all the time. Usually they do ok anyway.
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