worms, worms, and more worms

Hey everybody,
This morning I went out to pick some kale to dehydrate and noticed tons of it was eaten and along with that I find numerous worms under the leaf veggies to include my collards, chard, etc.  I had noticed my leaves were being eaten but could never find the culprit.

We are in the process of making a screened in barrier for my leaf veggies for the fall and I bought some neem oil and some seven.  I  have heard good and bad from both of them and also have read some opinions on here already.  So, I am already more confused. 

I am going to pull out the decimated plants because there is nothing left but I don't want these dang pests to get the best of my fall garden.   My tomatoes, bush beans, and peppers are doing well, but everything else has been affected and I feel like I am losing the battle and I cant do that!!!!!!!

So, basically my question is which one of the products would you use for pest control because something has to be done.  I am still way in the learning curve and this is beginning to be an expensive venture.  I just want to grow my veggies and eat healthy.

Thanks ahead for the input.
Have a great day

I'm guessing you mean caterpillars?

BT i(bacillus thurigensis, I think?) s a bacteria strain that attacks caterpillars. It's organic and probably the least-harmful approach that can still give strong results. It's alive, so you can't store it out in a shed or where the heat will cook it. Spray it on the tops and undersides of leaves.

Some people also swear by garlic or pepper sprays for virtually any pest, but my results have been uneven to say the least. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

Predatory wasps also attack many kinds of caterpillars. Unless you hate wasps to pieces, you might want to leave some of them alone if you got 'em.

And there's no substitute for going out and looking at your leaves every day and picking and killing by hand the pests you find on your plants. Some of the dedicated people here even go out with flashlights in the dark of night to catch the pests.

Also, neem oil is a natural product that is largely harmless to beneficial insects and other critters. It's even a part of some Indian food in a place where the neem tree is native.

Sevin, on the other hand, is devastating to a wide range of insects both good and bad. If you're going to use Sevin at all, use it sparingly and only if absolutely necessary, and not when you want bees to come visit and pollinate your flowers, if I recall correctly. Killing bees to save your plants is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Counterproductive and just bad bad bad.

You could also try soap sprays, which many people swear by but which I've never seen any effect from. But the logic of how they work does make sense, so maybe something went wrong on my end, I don't know.

Marc Iverson wrote:I'm guessing you mean caterpillars?

BT i(bacillus thurigensis, I think?) s a bacteria strain that attacks caterpillars.  It's organic and probably the least-harmful approach that can still give strong results.  It's alive, so you can't store it out in a shed or where the heat will cook it.  Spray it on the tops and undersides of leaves.

BT is sold under various brand names.  I use Thuricide concentrate made by Bonide.  it works on many different species of caterpillars/worms.

Hey,
Thanks for the help.  I just focused on the fact that they were slender and gross this morning when I found them.  I haven't used either yet because it is becoming more of a comfort factor the longer I have time to calm down some.  All I wanted to do earlier was to get rid of them completely.  My husband wasn't happy when I told him that they both had the ability to kill the bees also Marc. 

I am going to try using the screen barrier on my leafy veggies.  I didn't have this problem last fall with them but then again it was going into cooler weather. 

I have used the pepper spray and it didn't work for me.  I planted marigolds but maybe not enough.    I am already seeing the benefit of joining this forum.  Ya'll have definitely help steer me back on track as to why I want to grow my own food.  LOL I just don't want to feed the caterpillars.  I am off to go and pull the affected veggies out, probably leave them empty till I can start planting for fall in them. 

Again, thank yall for bringing me back to reality.  I am blessed to have my other veggies doing well for the moment.

Hokie, I found this Forum to be invaluable when I started SFG. And, still do!

I share your pain, hokie_paw!  

Caterpillars ate through my salad pool a couple of weeks ago before I understood what the problem was, and then yesterday morning I found this little guy on the underside of my Roma tomatoes.  Though I like to imagine him as Unicorn Larvae, I know from my salad pool research that it's a hornworm, so I snipped him in half and made sure there weren't any more on my baby romas.

I ordered the Garden Safe Bt, as they don't carry it my local Lowes, so I should be able to get everything sprayed in a couple of days.

This season I dedicate an entire bed to all non pollinating plants. All enclosed in a mixture of fairly reasonable and substantial material that hopefully will last for years. Everything has been doing nicely. Except my dedication this season to my beds, I just cannot do it all any more so need to go with the critical.
One problem I am having is something's coming out of the ground and eating, I've seen sowbugs, millipedes, and snails.
Been out all hours of the night and cannot seem to see the real culprits..All in all the covers are doing their thing, also some tempering of the hot sun...when it's out.
Tried a tomato plant, it's gone now

Looking good Jimmy.  I don't see any holes in those leaves.

jimmy cee wrote:One problem I am having is something's coming out of the ground and eating, I've seen sowbugs, millipedes, and snails.

Been out all hours of the night and cannot seem to see the real culprits.

Jimmy, I don't understand?? sowbugs and snails eat our veggies.

sanderson wrote:

jimmy cee wrote:One problem I am having is something's coming out of the ground and eating, I've seen sowbugs, millipedes, and snails.

Been out all hours of the night and cannot seem to see the real culprits.

Jimmy,  I don't understand??  sowbugs and snails eat our veggies.

Their eating mine also, I don't understand about the sowbugs, don't they know their not supposed to eat live stuff ?
Last night was a bonanza, I found all these + lots of earwigs, and a couple I do not know what they are, as sooon as I am able to I'll try some close ups.
The only real way I could do an efficient garden is morning, noon and night...that's not going to happen in this lifetime...LOL...