Having grown so many viable vegetable plants from seed, I am so much more invested than in previous years that I stroll around several times daily. Most discoveries make me happy. Now I’m facing a serious issue.
While my container grown tomatoes are thus far unharmed, the corner patch became infested by tomato hornworms. I spent a good while Wednesday morning pulling off and discarding these repulsive caterpillars. Fat and alien in appearance, they cling to the foliage for all they are worth. And their frightening camouflage would have allowed them to decimate every plant if not for their distinctive droppings.
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| I’m so glad I can recognize this berry-like poop… |
On a bright note, an adult moth became trapped in my pumpkin netting (revenge is sweet). Being smaller than its offspring makes the winged bug no less ugly. Unlike most moths’ elegant tapered thorax, those of Manduca quinquemaculata appear revoltingly bloated up to the sharp pointed end. |
It did not have a happy ending...
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That evening I used the netting for my pumpkins to cover the neighboring tomato plants, as well. And I’m leaving another bit of netting looped over the trellised EarthBox plantings as an extra precaution.
Much to my dismay I saw more droppings early the next day and had to remove another stomach-churning monster. So I bought a spray bottle of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Thursday afternoon.
We once purchased a concentrated form, which I looked for at the store to no avail, but it’s for the best. These natural and effective living bacterium do not have a long shelf life. In fact, we still had the concentrate which is doubtless inert after perhaps an entire decade (!), and I’m a bit annoyed that the label didn’t include a production date. My belated research following the same day application also irked me. This ready-to-use product’s label neglected to inform me that sunlight degrades the product.
I should have waited until evening. But I did not use the entire bottle yesterday and emptied it this morning after killing a small caterpillar. Anyway, this article provided other fascinating information. Humans first discovered Bt’s benefits in the early 1900’s and some field crops have been modified to include the gene responsible for the bacterium’s all important crystal protein.
Did you know that modern Bt strains have also become an essential weapon in the battle against West Nile Virus? And since profit drives more research than human welfare, do you think genetically modified foods pose a health risk?
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