Garden Pests

Corn Earworm

Description of Insect: adults are moths black to brown dark brownish or blackish , green colored caterpillars white round egg mass laid underside of leaves

Description of Damage: caterpillar feed on leaves leaving holes eats seedlings, feeds at night, chews corn tassels, eats corn kernels spreads viruses

Attacks: corn ears, tomatoes, vegetable crops, eggplant, okra, sunflower, some fruits

Trap Crops: alfalfa, cotton, tobacco crops

Organic Controls:

Handpicking caterpillars (if small white cocoons on caterpillars, they are being parasited by braconid wasp).
Beneficials
Crush egg shells place around plant, or provide a black mulch around plants.
Destroy infested plant parts.
Plant resistant varieties. Best are heirloom.
Crop rotation plant early or later
Reduce food supply by controlling weeds
Raise energy level of plants by increasing available minerals and sugars to plant.
Increase other predators such as bird by installing a bird bath or bats, bat house.
Safe Botanicals:
Cayenne Pepper (Tabasco sauce) spray
Garlic spray or planted next to.
Pyrethrum mixed with molasses spray
Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap spray
Garden Grade DE dusted or sprayed
BT/Berliner-Kurstakimixed with molasses, lethal Wettable BT Powder sprayed
other Natural Barriers dusted
Pheromone traps

A sample formula for spraying:

in a quart water filled near to top add: 5 drops Tabasco sauce 1 drop Dr. Bronners peppermint soap or use any natural soap such as Jungle Rain. 2 drops garlic oil or crushed or bought
spray on leaves and directly on bug. test for strength to avoid damage to plants. Pyrethrum can be sprayed around the plants. Avoid beneficials, be pest specific

A good dust mixture is:

1 part Organic Pyrethrum
1 part Garden Grade DE
1 part Organic Alfalfa meal
1 part Rock dust
1/8 part Organic Cayenne Pepper
Can be dusted around plants and under leaves,
Don't water for 24 hrs
Avoid spraying Beneficials,
Be pest specific

A NOTE ABOUT SOAP:

Do not use soaps that are chemically made or that have strange chemical additives or preservatives. Instead use only natural soap, either citrus or peppermint or try herbal soaps. Use only a very small amount of soap and use only when necessary. for more information on soap

Natural Predators

Predatory Nematodes Dr. Pye's Scanmask 7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes
Parasitic Wasps
Syrphid Fly
Lacewings larvae
Trichogramma Wasps
Spinned Solider bug
Lady Beetles
Round Beetles
Spiders Pirate bugs
Need more help?
Important! Key into the health of the soil. Soil with high levels of minerals are less prone to grow plants that are attacked.