Beginner Gardening: Help with melons and cucumbers, tiny black something eating , 1 by locakelly

locakelly wrote:
Hi, AuntBusy!

The black stuff is poop. Tomato hornworms as well as cabbage loopers (green inchworm looking caterpillars) will leave poop behind like that. Since it is most of your (different) plants, I would guess loopers. They can range from very small to very large in size. Where you see the droppings, look at the leaves above really well, especially on the undersides of the leaves. The loopers are hard to see, especially the little ones, as they are the color of the leaves. When you find them, pick them off and squish them.

Here is what they look like . . .

Kelly

Edited to say this - I am organic, thus the recommendation to pick and squish. There are chemical controls for the culprits, but that is not my area of expertise - lol. Maybe someone will chime in with a chemical solution if that is what you are looking for . . .

This message was edited May 22, 2009 8:58 AM