![\"Found](\"https:\/\/www.grit.com\/~\/media\/Images\/GRT\/Editorial\/Blogs\/Allan\/Fighting%20the%20Tomato%20Hornworm%20With%20Borage\/Tomato-Hornworm-found-550%20jpg.jpg?la=en\")
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For years now I have done battle with the tomato hornworm. You know Hornworm: big, green brute with a spiky horn on his butt. Sort of a cross between a backward rhinoceros and The Hulk. He can get to be 4 inches long and will decimate a tomato plant overnight.<\/p>\n
In the past I’ve used a number of methods to try to keep this marauder at bay.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Sevin Powder: works pretty well but is a chemical insecticide.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Neem oil: works pretty well and is a natural repellent, but has to be reapplied after every rainfall.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hand picking: It is harder than one might think to spot these well-camouflaged beasties. Even as big as they get, they can be hard to see in amongst the leaves. I look mostly for the leaf damage and poo-pellets they leave, then go hunting in that region.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.grit.com\/~\/media\/Images\/GRT\/Editorial\/Blogs\/Allan\/Fighting%20the%20Tomato%20Hornworm%20With%20Borage\/Tomato-Hornworm_infested-55%20jpg.jpg?la=en\")
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\u2022 Braconid Wasp: a natural control in that these iridescent blue wasps lay their eggs on the hornworm and when the eggs hatch, they feed on the form and kill it. When I find a worm packing a load of eggs on its back I move that one to a sacrificial plant where it can live out its life and help proliferate the Braconids. I’ve never been stung by a Braconid despite having them nest in my barn eaves. I consider them good fellows and welcome them.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Bacillus thuringiensis<\/em>: a naturally occurring bacterium that attacks the digestive systems of numerous leaf-feeders, including hornworms. It is available in spray or powder form under the trade names of Dipel and Thuricide.<\/p>\n This year I tried a new weapon: Borage.\u00a0 Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For years now I have done battle with the tomato hornworm. You know Hornworm: big, green brute with a spiky horn on his butt. Sort of a cross between a backward rhinoceros and The Hulk. He can get to be 4 inches long and will decimate a tomato plant overnight. In the past I’ve used … Continue reading “Fighting the Tomato Hornworm With Borage”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-8347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational","tag-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21488,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8347\/revisions\/21488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}