Tomato Horn Worms and the disturbingly gross way they die

I recently had some things come up in my life where I needed a small mental health break which started as one week but then turned into a bit over two months due to my own self-sabotaging, stubborn personality. But even with everything crazy I was processing during that time I never stopped trying to get out into my garden and make sure my plant babies were well cared for. It was during my recent clean up for my winter garden that I accidentally touched one of the biggest most creepy and gross tomato worms I have ever seen. Now I have seen tomato horn worms before, but they were only about an inch long and normally just come right off the branch or vine and are easily squashed or tossed in the garbage can. The ones that I have seen as of late have been three inches or longer and carrying around these big white egg sacs all over their bodies. Something like this picture here:

 

Super gross right?! If you are trypophobic I apologize, but I needed to share my trauma of seeing this thing in my yard...merrily eating my food. Or at least so I had thought till I did some research on why the heck it looked like this. I found out that little guys like this, covered in these gross egg sacs are in fact dying slow horrible deaths. The eggs come from a small native wasp species which eats these bad insects in the garden. What happens is once these wasp lay there eggs on the backs of the horn worm, the eggs slowly dig into its skin. Once the wasp larvae hatch, they burrow into the worm and devour its insides while it is alive. The worm then after some days or weeks dies and the freshly matured wasp go on to continue the cycle. Nature can be gross, but this nasty looking situation is actually a really really good thing. This is as organic of pest control as you can get but truly a testimony to how savage Mother Nature can be. 

If you have a gross looking pest in your garden that tops this share it with me in the comments and if you like this Blog add your email to the subscriber list. I feel about 80% back to normal so I think I will be back to doing my normal end of week posts. Happy October!

Best ways to Eliminate or Avoid Squash bugs

Every year millions of at home gardeners and farmers are plagued with the menace known as the squash bug. The breed faster than rabbits, smell like rancid milk and vinegar, are huge and eat EVERYTHING! Contrary to the name they do not just like to attack your summer squash they will take advantage of anything you leave a little less cared for. If you could not tell, I absolutely hate these little beast! But I have quickly learned a few secrets that have allowed my to keep my plants healthy and productive and today I wanted to share my top observations on how to handle these pesky little beetles.  They aren't the most traditional routes you could go, but they are very simple and you will probably have access to get this stuff if you don't own it already.

• Dish Soap works amazingly as insecticide not just for the squash bug, but for a whole host of hostile bugs which you can find crawling over your plants. All you need to do is add about a half teaspoon of it to a water filled spray bottle, spray any it directly on the bug and it will die in a matter of minutes. (Word of caution, this can burn your plants so if you accidently spray it on a large area rinse it off as soon as your sure the bug is dead.)
• Use a green house or garden tent to increase the temperature around your plant. This one I found out unintentionally while experimenting with a new greenhouse set up. In the southern area which I live, the temperature normally gets above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, but my greenhouse goes well over 100 even with the door open. The high heat levels are actually really being loved by my cucumber and squash plant and the heat seems to be keeping away the major pesks which would have already invaded by this time last year. I think its a win-win and I'll definitely do this in the years to come.

If you try these, let me know how they work out for you in the comments below and if you want to keep up with this blog subscribe with your email, its free!