Phoenix area gardners, I need help (homes, buy, scorpions)

[ajonesaz]

I went out to water the garden yesterday and found it decimated.

It is getting eaten by giant green caterpillars roughly 5-6 inches long. they are so big I can hear them munching. I picked a total of 9 off the plants, hopefully I got them all.

I have never seen pests like this before in the valley.

How do I get rid of them?

[Burning Madolf]

Don't know what to do but I had this last year and found a huge caterpillar too. Shovel was my answer.

http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/f...ca_quinqu.html

[BIG CATS]

Well, that's what people get for eradicating spiders and scorpions from their yards. People don't understand that they are absolutely vital for keeping harmful insects and stuff like this at bay. Ive heard stories of people spending night after night killing scorpions, only to be overrun with cockroaches. Spiders and scorpions might look scary, but theyre not gonna kill you, contrary to popular belief. What they are going to do is get rid of all the problematic bugs like roaches, mosquitos, and garden-killing caterpillars.


What you could seriously do is go buy some mantids and sprinkle some around your garden. If there is ample food source, they most likely wont leave. I had a neighbor back in IL that would collect their egg cases and scatter them in her garden. She would have hundreds of baby mantids running around (which are adorable btw). Many would leave, but a lot would stay and she NEVER had to put pesticides down or deal with ruined crops/vegetation.

[lewdog_5]

Green Horned Worms. They can decimate a garden in days.



You need to be checking your garden every few days in the spring and fall when they are most active. Locate them, knock them off and kill them. I then sprinkle or spray my plants with Worry Free Insecticide. If I kill them all by hand, sprinkle this after, they rarely come back through the rest of the growing season until early next spring when I do this again.

Hope that helps!

[lewdog_5]

Originally Posted by CalEhBrent

Get drought resistant plants and foliage.

You live in the desert. You're invading the homes of these important animals. You're ruining the ecosystem if you kill them.

Be better.

Lol what?!

This is a garden. Used for growing things to eat. Plenty can be grown here without the use of more water than any other parts of the country. These "animals" (They aren't animals!) aren't important and have plenty of other places to live other than a garden. KILL AWAY!!!!

[wit-nit]

Yes hornworms.
You can use the botanical Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis), which is a bacterium that acts as a stomach poison (but doesn’t harm other plants or animals).
For more info read...https://www.almanac.com/pest/tomato-hornworms

[gemstone1]

I carry small scissors to the garden and when I come upon a tomato horn worm on my plants, I just snip 'em in two.

Regards
Gemstone1

[MalteseJane]

Ha, they ate our jalapenos one year. Leaves and jalapenos. All we had left is sticks.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by MalteseJane

Ha, they ate our jalapenos one year. Leaves and jalapenos. All we had left is sticks.

They are munching on my jalapeno's as well. I was looking forward to a good harvest this year too.

At least I know they are more common than I thought.