Getting rid of hornworms! Help!

[rn]

At least I think they are hornworms... green little guys that start out tiny and start eating and grow grow...

I have removed about 6-7 so far from my collards, today I pulled one off of one of my broccoli plants. (non have been giant)

Anyway, aside from picking them off I have now filled a spray bottle with dr. bronners soap and water and sprayed every few days.

Any other advice?

I cant stand these little suckers. where do they come from?

[PancakesMancakes]

Ugh, we have tons of hornworms too

My sister swears by a mixture of cumin and diluted vinegar

[rn]

I will try it. I will try anything that is not a chemical at this point. Everything is looking lovely and growing, except for the holes those darn worms are making.

[ms.shell]

ooh, i am interested to try the cumin and vinegar.
i read you can sprinkle cornmeal at the base of your plants, and when I googled cornmeal and hornworms to try to verify this as accurate, I found this
LOL. I would love to know if you try it. LOL

[rn]

HA!!! I don't think I could eat them unless I was desperate!

[lunita1]

If they're on your collards and broccoli they are probably cabbageworms (they turn into those white butterflies). Handpicking regularly is effective and cheap. Bt (bacillus thurigensis -- a bacteria that affects the digestive systems of caterpillars) is effective, but probably not worth the hassle and expensive for a home garden. I just inspect the backs of leaves and also put up with a bit of insect damage -- the stuff tastes just fine as long as you get ride of enough caterpillars to let them grow.

[goldfinches]

Originally Posted by lunita1

If they're on your collards and broccoli they are probably cabbageworms (they turn into those white butterflies). Handpicking regularly is effective and cheap. Bt (bacillus thurigensis -- a bacteria that affects the digestive systems of caterpillars) is effective, but probably not worth the hassle and expensive for a home garden. I just inspect the backs of leaves and also put up with a bit of insect damage -- the stuff tastes just fine as long as you get ride of enough caterpillars to let them grow.

this. Hornworms prefer tomatoes and are at least 3x's as big as cabbage worms with a black "horn" on their backside.
Be sure to check for the eggs, too. Look on the underside of your leaves.

[rn]

Aahhh cabbage!

Cabbage worms! that explains why my tomato plants are fine.

So do you mean "handpicking" just what I have been doing, inspecting the leaves and pulling off the worm that is eating. I have not seen eggs, but obviously they are there. Are they white? what should I look for with that?

Does spraying the castile soap do any good at all? or should I stop that?

It is pretty amazing to me how the collards repair themselves after I rid it of the worm.

Now my last cabbage worm question is this. My garden is an L shaped raised bed along a stucco wall. I don't have it in me to kill the worms although I dislike them as they are only trying to eat just like we do. so i put each worm on a stick or rock and toss it over the wall. Is this not a good idea? Are these tiny creatures coming back over the wall? Should I be killing them?

Thanks for all your help everyone! Collards are by far one of my favorite foods and the thought of losing them to a bunch of tiny green worms is disheartening.

[Chicky2]

KILL.

SQUISH.

DEAD.



On the undersides of your leaves you will find little yellowish balls, or possibly brown. Remove and squish just like the worms.