I planted marigolds around the fence and the pots have chocolate mint growing in them...I also added parsley in the tomato beds as it keeps the white butterfies away that lay the eggs that turn into the horned tomato worm...The white butterflies can't stand the smell of the parsley
I picked some tomato hornworms off of my tomatoes the other day. I will definitely intermingle parsley with my tomato plants next year. Thanks for the great tip!
Liz, it's worked 2 years in a row for me....but now I have a raccoon that is eating my big tomatoes..ughh! If it isn't one thing it's another...Oh an interesting fact..the tomato worm turns into the hummingbird moth, they're very pretty but not enough to allow the tomato worm to live on my plants...LOL
@Lynnie: We have a lot of raccoons this year, too. I knew about the hummingbird moth because some years we have a lot and some years not so many. We are surrounded on 3 sides by a farmer and last year he planted tomatoes. This year there is corn. He probably sprayed last year and that's why I didn't have any. I've just been picking mine off and putting them in a bucket of soapy water. If I just let them go, they will eat my entire plants. I'd rather do the parsley , but it's too late for that.....next year. I do like the moths, though.
@Liz: Do you happen to have any idea's on how to keep out the raccoons? I thought the wrot iron fence would be too hard for them to climb but apparently they're really good climbers. :o( I only grew squash one year, but didn't have any squash bugs, of course I really don't know what they look like or what they do to the squash or the plant...I'll have to look them up...
@Lynnie: We live by a fairly busy road and apparently the raccoons don't pay attention to the cars because I see quite a few that get hit by cars. I'm not recommending this but a couple of garden club members are always talking about this cocktail they make with fly bait and coke.
I have heard that hornworms only damage the tomato leaves and do not harm the fruit? Thankfully, I've never had a problem with them, but I was wondering if theres any truth to that? Do they do major damage to the plants like a squash bug?
@Tine: It looked like there were some nibbles in a couple of tomatoes...I don't know whether it was the hornworm or something else...I've never had them before...when I noticed them all the leaves were stripped from the branches. I only have a few squash plants, so hopefully I won't find out about the squash bug.
Add your comment here