Thought I had posted this pic here earlier, but apparently not... Found this little bugger back in late May; never seen one this small...had to use the "magnifier" thingy on my phone to get a decent picture.

I keep seeing BT mentioned on here. It sounds like a liquid? I have a big plastic container of Mosquito Bits. You use 1 tsp for so many sq ft of surface water for mosquito larva. Are they the same thing in dried form? Can I dissolve some in water or something and use that the same way? Or is it a different BT? I vaguely remember a BTi versus a different BT.

I found this
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org ... es/bt.aspx
that explains the two types...I've probably read similar before. But I still have to wonder if it would work. It doesn't say not effective. I guess I wonder how much it has to do with science and how much with patent law.

JRinPA wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:07 am I found this
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org ... es/bt.aspx
that explains the two types...I've probably read similar before. But I still have to wonder if it would work. It doesn't say not effective. I guess I wonder how much it has to do with science and how much with patent law.

I have always used BTKurstaki as my caterpillar spray or dust. The mosqito bits (BTIsraeliensis) are only very minimally effective against caterpillars. BTI can also be used in your potting mix to keep fungus gnats away, as well as mosquitos, but not good on caterpillars. The science is that they are 2 completely different strains.

Agree with [mention]Ginger2778[/mention], there are 42 different strains/subspecies of BT, all effective against different groups. Have spent quite a bit of time work with BTi on mosquito control.

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/hornworm.htm

Until this moment, I didn’t realize I get the Tobacco Hornworn, Manduca sexta in my plot instead of the Tomato Hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata. Doesn’t mean much to the plants, either way they get gobbled up, but just a technicality I wanted to pass along.

What do you get in your garden? Hopefully, none of the above.

Thanks Marcia and Karstography for your BT input.
Here was the haul this morning.
Off to BT land they go!

HL2601 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 3:48 pm

Thanks Marcia and Karstography for your BT input.
Here was the haul this morning.
Off to BT land they go!

Holy crapoly!!!!

karstopography wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 3:31 pm https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/hornworm.htm

Until this moment, I didn’t realize I get the Tobacco Hornworn, Manduca sexta in my plot instead of the Tomato Hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata. Doesn’t mean much to the plants, either way they get gobbled up, but just a technicality I wanted to pass along.

What do you get in your garden? Hopefully, none of the above.

Oh wow, that's interesting. I didn't know this either, and it appears I too have the "Tobacco Hornworm". I had no idea.

Tough to say which I get, I think tobacco probably, but none this year so far.

I'll have to get some btk. For SVB, is what I need. Too late to go now.

I hope we are done with covid hours soon. The big grocery stores and walmarts and such that moved into the area did so with the promise to be open 24 hours a day, to better serve the public. The small businesses have been squeezed out, but now the big stores are no longer living up to their end.

I haven't put tomatoes out yet so no hornworms there but I did find a big one on a pepper plant last week. I use a black light to find them at night. It works great, especially finding the smaller hornworms.

Found this article describing the differences. HTH
https://entomologytoday.org/2013/12/14/ ... hornworms/