After the rodent (I hate to say what kind of rodent) incident in the greenhouse --- Oh! Wait I haven't written about the rodent incident yet. Next post will be about the rodent incident as I am already headed in a different direction here.
Anyway..I was reading at organicgardening.com and saw the link for PESTS. On the list was controlling hornworms. Yuck! As much a proponent of lovely butterflies and their associated caterpillars, I hate hornworms. Funny how I remember when I was just a wee lass, my father used to tell me the green soup we were eating for lunch was made from the tomato worms. I think at the time I believed him, because even today green pea soup is hardly my favorite.
Interesting things to look at hornworms are, but they eat up my beloved (before I found out I am allergic to them) tomato plants. And although I am allergic, Dave, Andrew, my Mom and for that matter, anyone else who anticipates reaping the overflow produce has mentioned, they can't wait for homegrown tomatoes. As I mentioned previously the greenhouse is full of tomato seedlings.
In a few short weeks, my tomato babies will be set out in the spring garden. I dread the day I find the plants covered in nasty green worms. Luckily, as the article at organicgardening.com reminded me, Hornworms frequently fall prey to non-stinging parasitic wasps that use
them as hosts for their young. Tiny braconid wasps, less than 1⁄8 inch
long, deposit eggs into the caterpillar’s body.
It appears I need to inter-plant the tomatoes with plants which attract the Braconid Wasps. Those plants are dill, fennel, cilantro, basil, sage, oregano, and thyme. Adult parasitic wasps are attracted to their nectar.
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