Whatever plant hardiness zone you are in, you can almost always plan on these two pests that cause more harm than good to your warm weather crops. These two visitors can and will decimate your cabbage and tomato crops overnight. I’m talking about Cabbage Moths and Tomato HornWorms.
Cabbage Moths
Just when you notice your cabbage begins to develop heads, you will also begin to see little white moths flying around your garden. These little nemesis’ go by the name of, the cabbage moth. Or, as I call them, little assholes. These little guys, or gals, will at some point, pay your Brassicas and many other leafy greens a visit at some time or another. If you allow them to feed without intervening, the larvae will chew holes, that will often lead to leaf loss and eventually the death of your crops.
Oh no! What do I do now?
There are a few plans of attack one can take upon noticing their presence. First, get your ass out of bed, early in the morning, and get after it. Because, these little boogers get to work faster than you think. A great way to prevent them from even getting a chance is to use netting right after planting your seedlings.
This season, I was a bit behind and had not purchased netting until it was too late. Correction, I purchased the netting, went to Lowes, purchased pvc pipe and rebar for low tunnels and then life happened and I never got around to putting it up. This happens a lot more than I am proud of, but let’s face it, life happens. And, it happens to the best of us.
Onward! What else can I do to get rid of cabbage moths & hornworms?
Companion Planting
Plant crops that are known to draw egg-layers away from your main crops. Some common ones are, nasturtiums, dill, and mustard. These helpers will draw egg-layers away from your main crops. But guess what? YEP!
LIFE HAPPENED AGAIN.
But now is not the time to blame yourself, feel sorry for yourself, or give up. So put on those man or lady pants and get rockin’. First things first, there is no time to waste. Go to your local small business shop FIRST! I will not go into how important supporting your local small businesses is, in this post, so just do it! Look for a product called Monterey B.t. The B.t. stands for Bacillus Thuringiensis.
We are organic gardeners, so we use this. I will not get too far into what Bacillus Thuringiensis is, but I will say that it is a naturally occurring bacterium that causes disease in certain insects. You can do your own research if you would like to know more.
Anyhow, back to getting that ass out of bed.
Do yourself, your ego, and your beloved plants a favor and apply B.t. early in the morning or at dusk. This step is important so that you do not cause more damage to your plants. Follow the directions on the bottle. This stuff will need to be diluted before applying. Put it into whatever you would like to spray it with.
I have used a simple spray bottle, but now I use a garden sprayer. I prefer the garden sprayer because, while applying, you must spray on all parts of the leaves. That means bottoms, tops, sides and the base of the plants. Also, go ahead and spray the circumference of the soil around the base of your plants. Following these simple steps does not mean that your precious crops are out of the woods just yet. You still must keep an eye on your crops. I have had to apply B.T. numerous times before seeing the end of danger.
Tomato HornWorms
The other garden foe I will briefly cover is this little alien looking thing. Looks a bit scary, but grab that fucker and feed it to the chickens. If these little guys still scare you after years of gardening, well then, it may be time to return to buying poisonous, malnutrition-ed produce from the nearest big box store. This lil asshat will decimate your beloved tomato plants overnight.
They are sometimes hard to see because they have the same color of the leaves.
But, they are not very hard to detect, if you are paying attention. First, you will begin to notice small black spots or balls on your tomato leaves. They are typically the size of very tiny pebbles. These black specks are the poop of the worm that will notify you of their presence. Some will choose to go out at night with a black light to find them, but that is far above my pay grade.
Next, you will notice leaves that have been eaten overnight leaving only the vein of the leaf. Use B.t. the same way as you did with your brassicas.
Final thoughts
Be sure to use the diluted B.T after mixing. Do not expect this product to be effective if you try to use diluted B.T the following day. Also, just because you decide to remove these pests from your crops and spray them with B.T does notmean that they will not return. It is the gardeners job to visit his or hers plants on a regular basis to detect the presence of pests.
Growing healthy plants with healthy living soil and removing diseased and weak plants from your garden, will help with keeping a garden that works in harmony with nature and surrounding ecosystems. Here is to growing a permaculture rich garden.
Until next time…
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