Nature can be so weird at times

[ChanellG]

Ew! What an image, LOL. Poor worms indeed! More like poor tomatoes, poor plants, poor mother working her tail off to grow food and losing it to those friggin worms!

 

[Pat]

This is a good lesson in the food chain, the bugs are eating the food you want in your garden and another bug is eating the bug that is destroying your garden. Everything serves a purpose no matter how small.

 

[marlingardener]

Those little rice like white things are the larvae of the Braconid wasp, a very beneficial insect to have. If you see them on a hornworm, let Mother Nature take her course. The wasps will mature and lay more eggs, which will take care of more hornworms.
We don't have very many hornworms, but if we do, and there is no larvae on them, I toss them into a can and dump it in the chicken coop. Chickens love hornworms!

 

[ChanellG]

Those little rice like white things are the larvae of the Braconid wasp, a very beneficial insect to have. If you see them on a hornworm, let Mother Nature take her course. The wasps will mature and lay more eggs, which will take care of more hornworms.
We don't have very many hornworms, but if we do, and there is no larvae on them, I toss them into a can and dump it in the chicken coop. Chickens love hornworms!

I have offered mine to people with chickens, only the turtle owner showed interest. Fortunately, I wasn't plagued with them this year; only saw a few in garden #2. Now that I know tomatoes are self-pollinating, I plan to isolate or otherwise cover my plants in the future so the moths can't get to them to lay eggs.

 

[muddyfingers]

Looking at them gives me goosebumps. I've been gardening for a while already yet I still get these because they are so weird.

 

[ChanellG]

Looking at them gives me goosebumps. I've been gardening for a while already yet I still get these because they are so weird.

I suppose they are a bit weird, but they are a major nuisance if you don't catch them early. Last year I kept a bottle of soapy water in the garden to plop them into whenever I found them. Garden #2 had more cutworms than hornworms, and during the current winter I've been finding cabbage worms and loopers, grrrr!

 

[globulon]

Very odd, but weirdly mesmerizing in its own way. Nature certainly is amazing in how it offers so many different solutions to solve certain problems. While I certainly hope never to see that in my own garden, I have to respect the huge diversity in our backyard!

 

[ChanellG]

Very odd, but weirdly mesmerizing in its own way. Nature certainly is amazing in how it offers so many different solutions to solve certain problems. While I certainly hope never to see that in my own garden, I have to respect the huge diversity in our backyard!

Yes, that's it exactly! I recently learned that a flower that I loved as a child, that most people thought of as a weed, is great for getting rid of Japanese beetles. Nature provides all manner of solutions... I actually had flower seeds that were given away free at an Earthday festival that I am now trying to figure out where I put them so I can get some bushes going.

 

[muddyfingers]

I suppose they are a bit weird, but they are a major nuisance if you don't catch them early. Last year I kept a bottle of soapy water in the garden to plop them into whenever I found them. Garden #2 had more cutworms than hornworms, and during the current winter I've been finding cabbage worms and loopers, grrrr!

Nature's way of playing with us. *sigh

 

[ChanellG]

Nature's way of playing with us. *sigh

LOL! That or maybe nature is trying to teach us something. Most people dismiss wild or "volunteer" plants in their garden as weeds. Quite a few of these plants are edible and many have medicinal properties. Instead of yet people usually don't care about that and would spray poison which effects everyone and everything else just to get rid of the unwanted plants.

 

[muddyfingers]

LOL! That or maybe nature is trying to teach us something. Most people dismiss wild or "volunteer" plants in their garden as weeds. Quite a few of these plants are edible and many have medicinal properties. Instead of yet people usually don't care about that and would spray poison which effects everyone and everything else just to get rid of the unwanted plants.

Fair point. True enough. I hope many people would read this post of yours and learn from it.

 

[franpj2]

I think I've only had one incident where I've had hornworms. Don't know why. Did I plant my tomatoes too late for the moth to lay the eggs? Could be. Don't care. Just count myself lucky.

 

[ChanellG]

I think I've only had one incident where I've had hornworms. Don't know why. Did I plant my tomatoes too late for the moth to lay the eggs? Could be. Don't care. Just count myself lucky.

If you hadn't been growing them before and no one nearby you had either, it would take them a while to figure out the plants were there. This year if I get them I'm going to be "farming" them for someone from the plant swap who raises chickens. I'll have to set up some mini habitats to hold them until I get them to her.