I don't inject mine right at the base. I inject several inches above the base and let the liquid run down the inside of the hollow stem. I figure that this way the bt will coat the inside of the stem and I have a better chance for the larvae to eat it.

I have never had a SVB in a cucumber plant but I have had them bore into spaghetti squash fruits.

I was literally going to take a black light outside last night and was just too exhausted. I will try that tonight and if it doesn't work- I will use BT.

I'm up to 10 hornworms I've plucked off of 6 plants, its amazing how much they can eat! I've gone over plants and there are more the next day. They must grow overnight.

Here is south Florida..U need to spray Bt BEFORE u start having problems with hornworms. Spray early morning or after sunset. The UV rays from the sun weaken the Bt ingredients. Make sure the leave are DRY before u spray. I check my plants every morning and every night for those horn worms. I'm also lucky..the bluejays LOVE them and will hunt for them on the plants. Spray every 2 weeks regularly and you shouldn't have a problem..or at least not a big problem. U can also use a black light at night to find them..they glow in the dark with the black light. :surprised:

I am heading out with the black light in a few minutes. I found 4 small ones when I came home from work today. Put them on the bird feeder and then through the window I watched them throw their evil little bodies off the birdfeeder- presumably to inch their way back to my tomato bed.

I have a total of about 11 tomato plants and over the last week and a half I have pulled off somewhere near 30 or 40 hornworms. I am not finding any more of the giant ones, but the little ones can do a lot of damage on their way to becoming dragon sized.

Wow. Are you guys near commercial tomato or tobacco fields? That's crazy.

Yeah, I have never seen anything like that. I may see one or two all summer.

[QUOTE=brownrexx;654301]Yeah, I have never seen anything like that. I may see one or two all summer.[/QUOTE]

Same. Last year, I thought I had an unusually high number when I found 2 (both around the 1 1/2 inch stage) and then another later that had been parasitized and was already turning black (the cocoons had already hatched).

This year, I've found and picked off 3 eggs. That seemed like a lot for me.

[QUOTE=brownrexx;653662]Unfortunately Bt is not going to help with squash vine borers because the larvae develop inside the stem and the BT is on the outside of the stem. Sorry.[/QUOTE]

The larvae have to eat through the outside to get to the inside. If they ingest the BT while trying to get in it can kill them. It may not be 100% but it does work relatively well.

I am in the middle of town in the Quad Cities. We are about 100 yards from a wooded creek area. we have been here at this house four years and have never seen a hornworm here before. We were closer to downtown for six years and had no hornworms there. 20 years ago we lived out in the country surrounded by corn and soy fields, and I would get a horn worm or two every year.

[QUOTE=pjhootch;654371]Quad Cities[/QUOTE]

Tobacco farming is booming in IL, from what I understand. Not sure whether there are any growers in your vicinity, but hornworms are typically a much bigger problem where tobacco is being grown.

Tons of hornworms here also. I just pulled 10 tonight in the greenhouse. Outdoor toms. dont have any. They seem pretty easy to kill with bayer spray. I just realized theres a hornworm pic on the bottle!

[url]www.amazon.com/dp/B0052K0V20/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_N9bAzbV8197PF[/url]

[QUOTE=gorbelly;654373]Tobacco farming is booming in IL, from what I understand. Not sure whether there are any growers in your vicinity, but hornworms are typically a much bigger problem where tobacco is being grown.[/QUOTE]

Nothing is booming in Illinois except taxes, we grow more horseradish, no tobacco except for me...

I only found one yesterday morning for a change and none today. I am hoping that between the wasps and birds that the worst is over, but I doubt it. Probably just taking a break.

Somebody here last year, did a nice post about the life cycle of the hornworm. I tried a search, but didn't find the exact one.

I got a feeling that the ones without the wasp eggs in their backs have done enough munching and are now doing the pulpating thing in the soil, which means more to come later.

Think it was BBV that said to plant Zinnias that predators of the hornworm like the nectar from the Zinna and will hang around. Could be very true as I had some Zinna plants sitting in a flat not to far away from the tomatoes that all had the wasp eggs on them.

so far just 1 here in Oklahoma