Cabbage Moths and Larva

The cabbage moths are small white moths that look like butterflies. I used to think they were so nice to watch flying around the garden until I learned that they lay their eggs on leafy greens.
 

If the moths are present so are their eggs and larvae. Once the eggs hatch the larvae start eating their way through your garden.

I don't spray so to keep these moths from laying eggs on my leafy greens I invested in a material called a row cover. You just lay it over the garden and the moths can't reach the plants to lay their eggs. I decided to use my coldframe for the material and it is working just fine. You can pick it up at your local garden center or order it from your favorite online nursery.

Happy Gardening!

Tomato Hornworm..not pretty

I have noticed that some of my tomato plants have leaves eaten down to the branches. I am also seeing black fecal matter or "dirt" on the leaves.

Investigating further, I found one of these guys hanging upside down eating his way through my tomato patch. It is very hard to find these hornworms because of their color. Look in the center of this next picture and see if you can find the hornworm.

Googled the hornworm and found that he is very destructive to tomato plants and will eat pepper plants as well. I am an organic gardener and will not spray my plants so I have been hornworm hunting everyday since I found these guys...and yes I do dispose of them when found!

Be sure to keep an eye out for these guys. They can take out a plant in just a few days. Remember, if your plants look like something is eating the leaves down to the branches and you see "dirt" piles on the leaves, you probably should keep looking for the hornworm.

Happy Gardening!