Pest Control Question

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amanda Catherine Stauble on September 18, 2010 at 4:09pm

I found this article for you that seems to have some good suggestions. Good luck!
-ac

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf94196386.tip.html

Here are some suggestions for controlling them organically:

* Interplant garlic and onion.
* Destroy crops completely in the fall and plow to destroy pupae.
* Plant tolerant cultivars. Ask your county extension agency for suggestions.
* Plant early or late to avoid peak egg-laying times. Use pheromone traps to monitor adult moths.
* Cover seedlings with floating row covers (make sure to pollinate by hand).
* Fertilize plants for vigorous growth.
* Make small slits in the vines and remove borers by hand. Cover the slits with dirt to encourage rooting.
* Release trichogramma wasps to attack eggs.
* Use parasitic nematodes around plants as mulch, or inject nematodes into bore-holes with a medicine dropper. Pack dirt around the hole when finished.
* Spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) as soon as runners appear on plants.
* For severe infestations and as a last resort, spray the base of plants with rotenone or pyrethrins to kill young larvae before they can enter the vines.

Permalink Reply by greg draiss on September 26, 2010 at 7:44am

Bt will not work being sprayed on the plant. The larvae is inside the vine. The adult lays eggs inside the vine.

Permalink Reply by Meghan E. Murphy on September 24, 2010 at 8:33am

I found a crazy looking pest on my tomatoes yesterday. It was the carcass of a centipede covered with larvae. I removed it and tried to get any of the larvae that fell to the ground. Now it's in a jar with some dirt ... What should I do?

Permalink Reply by greg draiss on September 26, 2010 at 7:43am

Weird for sure.................This late in the season just hand pick them

Permalink Reply by Diane Groeters on February 9, 2011 at 9:58am

Here's the info if you come across this situation next year:  What you're calling a centipede was probably a tomato horn worm and the white larvae are parasites that use the worm as a host (sort of like in that movie Alien). The larvae are good and destroy the horn worm. If this happens again just remove the worm from your plants and put it in a corner of the garden where the larvae can transform into beneficial parasitic wasps.

Permalink Reply by Diane Groeters on February 9, 2011 at 10:05am

You have a squash bug infestation. They overwinter in your soil and surrounding debris. Pests like this come  from growing the same type of plant in the same location for a few years in a row. Since the insects are host specific, you should stop growing squash for three years to allow the population to die out. You can then grow squash every other year with a minimum of problems. Row covers can be effective, but you have to uncover the plants for part of the day for pollinators, and that can also give squash moths a chance to lay their eggs and continue the problem.