Hunting..

[desertlady]

Good morning I am going hunting for ........tomato worms ! GGGrrrrr!!

 

[digitS']

DL, I know that you have sunflowers in your garden.

Have the birds that probably visit them often made any difference in the tomato worm population?

The last tomato worm that ventured into to my garden did quite a bit of damage. Before I could get back with the Bt spray (forgot to bring it in the pickup for about a week), the damage to the plants had begun to heal. The worm(s) were gone. Those tomatoes were only about 6' from a couple of sunflowers.

Since then, I've planted a good number of sunflowers. The finches and chickadees visit them often whether there is any ripe seed, or not. I haven't seen a tomato worm (or their damage) in years!

Steve

 

[desertlady]

Yes I have birds visiting my garden. I have fewer tomato worms this year. I think the birds missed some of them! My tomato plant is huge and making it difficult for me and the birds to find them !!

 

[Smart Red]

For some reason I haven't seen any tomato horn worms in my garden this year either. I do have the bird bath right in the center. The only THW I've seen was on my potato plants rather than on the tomatoes. I keep looking, but see neither worm nor evidence of their feeding.

I do know that there were quite a few THW last year with predator wasp eggs on them. Those I remove from the plant and set them aside to feed the wasp babies.

This would be the first year I've not seen any worms on the tomatoes. No potato beetles or larva. No cabbage worms. Could they have skipped this area because of the drought?

 

[journey11]

Look for their droppings, then check the leaves and stems directly above. Amazing how fast they can defoliate a tomato plant. Good luck!

 

[hoodat]

Most seed eating birds don't eat many insects except when they are feeding young ones in the nest. I guess they go for the insects then because of the higher protein.

 

[desertlady]

no sign of them ! will try again tomorrow !

 

[digitS']

I was surprised to learn that House Finches feed their young seeds. They are one of the few species of perching birds that do so . . . and the insect-eaters are of great benefit to gardeners. Actually, the House Finch does help out -- dandelion seeds are reported by Wikipedia to be a preferred seed fed to their young .

The goldfinch is a common visitor to my garden. Lately, I am seeing more Cedar Waxwings. They are coming up from the river bank, where they like to hang out. Then, there are the Song Sparrows, Chickadees, and Chipping Sparrows.

All are Good News for me and welcome!

Steve

 

[so lucky]

I get cardinals, robins, bluebirds, goldfinches, English sparrows, wrens, mockingbirds, chickadees and a few others that I can't readily identify. I do think the sunflowers I planted in the garden helped attract birds, and the marigolds on the other side deterred a few bugs/worms. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[catjac1975]

They blend in so well. Lift the stems to see them better.

Look for their droppings, then check the leaves and stems directly above. Amazing how fast they can defoliate a tomato plant. Good luck!