Tag Archives: pests

tomato hornworm

A fellow gardener sent in a photo this morning of a Horned Tomato Worm.

Tomato hornworm

It is the larval stage of the five-spotted hawk moth, Manduca quinquemaculata, or Sphinx Moth. The Latin genus name “Manduca” means glutton and horned tomato worms are just that. Tomatoes are their host plants and they will quickly strip the leaves of tomatoes, peppers and anything of the Solanaceae family — peppers, eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes!

They can grow up to 5 inches long! While the worms look a bit fierce, the horn on the back is not sharp enough to pierce the skin nor are they poisonous to touch. Pluck them off and feed them to your chickens. Or knock them into a bucket of soapy water.

While you may not find the worm you may very well see the frass (fancy word for worm poop) on leaves. It can be prodigious!

Hornworm frass

Soapy water mixed with a bit of cayenne pepper in a spray bottle is the key to keeping your plants safe from these voracious feeders. NOW is a good time to spray and again after it rains.

cucumbers

Cucumbers are an easy crop and it’s not too late to sow seed for a late summer/fall harvest.

Cucumber plant sprouts

For those of you with mature plants, have them staked to keep the fruit off the soil and less susceptible to slugs.

Keep a lookout for cucumber beetles and their eggs.

Cucumber beetle
Cucumber beetle eggs

These bugs will wreak havoc on your cucumber and squash plants. Check the underside of leaves and around your plants and remove the bugs and eggs and destroy them. If you have damage but no sign of the bugs, spray with Neem oil. There is a labeled jug in the shed with a sprayer.

sharing your peas

I’ve heard from a few of you that your peas are being eaten by someone that’s not you!

Nibbled peas

This uninvited guest is most likely chipmunks that get through the fencing.

Chipmunk

My recommendation is to plant a lot so that everybody gets some. A good, tall trellis might help by letting the critters have the lower portion and you get the easy-to-pick top portion.

You can also plant some aromatic herbs around your pea plants — herbs like sage and rosemary apparently put chipmunks off.

Remember, you can plant peas again in the fall — they are a cool season crop — plant in early August for October harvest.

We can try to outsmart the chipmunks, but in the end, I say: share — which is what we’re doing on this earth anyway.

flea beetles

Flea beetles have little back legs that help them jump around like a flea, but they are, in fact, beetles. 

Flea beetles like to eat young leaves and seedlings early in the season, especially of the Brassica family —  broccoli, cabbage, kale, radishes, as well as the nightshade family of plants such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.

Adult beetles feed on foliage, producing “shotholes” in the leaves. Look out for these small round holes especially on young seedlings, where damage can stress plants and stunt growth. 

Flea beetles are repelled by catnip, sage, mint, hyssop, nasturtium and basil — all terrific additions to a plot. Nasturtiums are fast growing in the heat and produce edible flowers!

Flea beetle

invasive visitors sprouting

We have a garden pest that does not directly affect our garden plants, but it is a real threat to our ecosystem. Ailanthus tree sprouts are in many of our garden beds and may look like an ordinary weed, but the giveaway is that they smell like peanut butter.

Also known as “Tree of Heaven,” Ailanthus grows very fast, crowds out our native shrubs and trees, and is very difficult to get rid of once it becomes deeply rooted.

Worst of all, Ailanthus is the host species for the spotted lanternfly, which is a huge pest to fruit trees, stone fruits and our own eastern native forest trees.

Please pluck out Ailanthus sprouts in and around your garden bed, and put them into the cold compost bin.

Look out for the bigger sprouts or young saplings and pull them out whenever they are, on garden property, or anywhere you are tending to a natural area.

Ailanthus sprouts
Spotted lanternfly

cutworms

As you dig your beds and plant your plants, keep an eye out for CUTWORMS. They like to eat your young plants and usually can be found curled up in the soil at this time of year.

Cutworms are not worms, but are caterpillars one to two inches long. They can be brown, gray, yellow or green and usually have stripes going down their backs or spots on their bodies. They feed at night and hide in the soil during the day. If you visit your garden early morning or late evening you can sometimes find them on your plants.

Pick them off and destroy them (under foot, or put them into a bottle of soapy water). Do not put them alive into the compost bin, or they will continue their life cycle.