Some rat bastard has been eating my tomatoes

puerco-bellies

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Sun Aug-03-08 08:53 PM
Original message

Some rat bastard has been eating my tomatoes

Troy has identified a person of interest. Does anyone know what kind of butterfly this will become?

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rug

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Sun Aug-03-08 08:56 PM
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1. That's Mothra, not a butterfly.

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elana i am

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Sun Aug-03-08 08:59 PM
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2. tomato worms

become moths.

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elana i am

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Sun Aug-03-08 08:59 PM
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3. oops

Edited on Sun Aug-03-08 09:00 PM by elana i am

oops. double post.

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Gormy Cuss

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Sun Aug-03-08 09:02 PM
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4. That's the dreaded tomato hornworm.

It must be handpicked from your plants. No other method will both eradicate it and keep your plants producing.

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bicentennial_baby

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Sun Aug-03-08 09:05 PM
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5. That there is the Tomato Hornworm

Bad news. And fucking ugly.

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davsand

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Sun Aug-03-08 09:07 PM
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6. My brother used to blow them up with fire crackers.

They blowed up real good--made a HUGE green mess...

(We were not too polished, but we DID have a good tomato patch.)

Looking back on it, we never thought much about it at the time. We always had firecrackers around, and those stupid tomato worms could eat an entire plant down to the stem without stopping to belch. I'd be horrified if my kid did it now--but I watched my brother do it for years.

:scared:

Laura

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madeline_con

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Sun Aug-03-08 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #6

9. Cool! If I see one, I'll have my kid blow it up.

A few steps away, of course. :puke:

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LostinVA

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Sun Aug-03-08 09:48 PM
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7. Ewwww

The chipmunks have been stealing ours. The cute little bastards leave the skins behind, too.

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madeline_con

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Sun Aug-03-08 10:09 PM
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8. Pick them off by hand and kill them.

The little buggers will decimate your tomatoes!

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yellowdogintexas

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Sun Aug-03-08 10:26 PM
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10. nasty nasty green thing, there. MY tomato thief, some years ago, was my cat

YEP, he would go out into the garden and take bites out of the ripe tomatoes.

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BrklynLiberal

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Sun Aug-03-08 10:40 PM
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11. Gross. I had them too. I went out to the garden with a tin can filled with

Edited on Sun Aug-03-08 10:45 PM by BrklynLiberal

VERY hot soapy water, and wearing rubber gloves, I picked them off and threw them into the soap to die.
They are just about the grossest looking things I had ever seen.

Wasps and Birds are their natural enemies.
Put a bird feeder near the garden, and get some wasps to live in your garden.
Other good suggestions here.
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=772&bhcd2=1217821094

More suggestions, and a pic of the caterpillar with the wasp cocoons attached. Do not squish one if it has these baby wasps on it. You want those wasps in your garden.
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/tomato_hornworms

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