War on Worms

It's an ongoing battle.

Earlier this summer I spotted this:

And this:

Which can only mean one thing.

Did you see it?

How about now?

"Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."

Tomato hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata

And then there is this guy (and his brothers).

Some kind of armyworm or cutworm. Last year I identified southern armyworm and yellowstriped armyworm (aka cotton cutworm) in the garden.

Usually I don't see these caterpillars until I notice something like this:

That's worm poop, but let's stick with the technical name of "frass" because it sounds classier that way.

So usually when I see frass if I look a few leaves above it I'll see something like this:

By the time they get this size there's not much that can be done other than to pick off the worms and stomp them with your shoe. I don't recommend doing it barefoot. This sucker is about an inch long already.

But when they are in the itty-bitty stage you still have a chance at treating them. My go-to product is something with Bacillus thuringiensis. Bt products will kill the worms but not harm other insects, which is good news when you have beneficial insects around. When the little guys appear I'll sometimes treat weekly just to try keeping ahead of the next batch. The other thing I like about Bt products is that they are a spray, so I can mix up a batch in my hand sprayer and insert the wand deep into the plants to spray all surfaces. Can't do that with a powder.

And I'll keep picking off the ones I can see. And watching for frass.