How Big Is Your Hornworm This Yr.

[Brown Thumb]

I have been trying to keep away from all pesticides this yr since using Macho2.
Macho is working for Aphids but not these guys. How big is your hornworm this yr.

 

[CaryNC]

I'm not using any chemicals either because I want the seed to be the best it can be.

I had 2 or 3 like that early on, but now I have been checking twice a day and rarely find one over half an inch. I do manage to find at least one every time.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Mine are all dead thanks to Spinosad..

 

[Chicken]

I pulled one as big as my thumb and 4" long...i was curious how he got that big because i been spraying..i guess he was lucky and got on some leaf that didnt get sprayed.
But after finding him.i sprayed that day.and checked the next day and found some dead ones.

I got a couple of them in a freezer bag..in the freezer..gonna use them for fish bait.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Biggest one I've seen so far was during the last priming. He was about 1 1/4" long . Most of the rest have been little fellas about 1/2 inch long . All immediately dispatched by hand.

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm proud to have found only very tiny hornworms this year. The hornworm larvae take an average of 20 days to go from a newly hatched egg, to a beast like the one shown in BT's first image. Since the leaf damage caused by a single hornworm increases exponentially, from a small puncture hole to a skeletal leaf, you are increasingly likely to spot them as they grow. This season, I've been content to inspect carefully for hornworms once every two days. (I base this on the average two days required for a newly laid hornworm egg to hatch.)

A clear article from the University of Florida on hormworms: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/hornworm.htm . Lots of nice photos and graphics.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Fair Trade Agreement

The use of Bacillus thuringiensis (referred to as BT), will dramatically reduce hornworm damage. It's not a poison, but gives feeding caterpillars a fatal tummy ache. The caterpillar must ingest the bacterium in order to be affected, but the resulting leaf hole is pretty tiny.

Various preparations of BT are available for spraying on tobacco leaves. It's effectiveness is brief (a few days to a week or so), and is rinsed away by rain. So it must be re-applied throughout the season.

I see BT as a trade-off for ordinary labor. Although you have to repeatedly spray the BT, doing so is considerably less labor than carefully inspecting the plants every two or three days to remove the eggs and worms by hand. If you have a huge grow, and you use mechanized spraying, then the choice is easy. For a small home grow, which can be managed entirely without BT, it's a matter of spending the money on BT to save some of your labor.

So, if your time is more valuable than the cost of BT, it makes sense to spray.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Fair Trade Agreement

Although you have to repeatedly spray the BT,

I spray (Spinosad) once on or about the 4th of July. This wipes out 90+%. I spray a week later to get any stranglers. Very quick and simple. The nice thing about Spinosad (and BT) is that it will continue to work for several days unlike contact poisons.

 

[deluxestogie]

In most traditional tobacco growing areas, hornworms appear in three waves during each season. I have noted that in my own tobacco. I'm not sure why you aren't seeing that in Maryland.

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

In most traditional tobacco growing areas, hornworms appear in three waves during each season. I have noted that in my own tobacco. I'm not sure why you aren't seeing that in Maryland.

Bob

I love that part about growing areas. I have 0 so far this year, I have only ever seen 2.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Actually my spray schedule is: I spray early July and then about a week later. This corresponds to my plants blooming or getting ready to bloom. I spray the entire plant including the buds before I bag them. This eliminates basically all budworms. Approximately 4 weeks later I spray again. This gets the next generation of worms and coincides with when I start harvesting. Rarely do I find hornworms on my hanging( in the barn) leaf.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I love that part about growing areas. I have 0 so far this year, I have only ever seen 2.

I can send you some if you want.

 

[Smokin Harley]

During yesterdays priming I saw and destroyed a good number of the tiny orange yellow clusters of hornworm eggs. No live wigglers though.

 

[deluxestogie]

Hornworm eggs nearly always appear translucent green (the size of Lincoln's chin on a penny) and are usually solitary. It's some other moth or butterfly that lays clusters of orange yellow eggs. I usually just brush them off the leaf.

Bob

 

[Smokin Harley]

hmm, ok then . now I think I've been squashing ladybeetle eggs.

 

[Gavroche]

Fatal error !...

 

[deluxestogie]

Lady beetle eggs (and a curious aphid).
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden....ts-and-problems/other/beneficial-insects.aspx

Bob

 

[Smokin Harley]

yep , thats them...

 

[Smokin Harley]

Fatal error !...

I know that now.

 

[Cigar]

I have checked my plants everyday now for hornworms or any other insects.have yet to find any worms but today starting see alot of very small [like tiny bb holes] on several leaves..but see no insects??