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Old March 14, 2006   #9
tjg911
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
Posts: 2,570
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that's odd, i never have cpb on my tomatoes but potatoes seem to draw every cpb between here and colorado! even the tomato plant that was touching the end of the potato row was not effected by cpb. my eggplants were 100-120' away on the driveway in containers. not a cpb went to them but that was out of the garden. when i don't grow potatoes i don't see cbp.

an effective organic pesticide for cpb is a bt that is SPECIFICLY for cpb NOT the one used for caterpillars. any decent gardening store should carry it, just be certain it is for cpb. i use the liquid concentrate and spray it. it only kills the larvae not the addults. it washes off in the rain and breaks down in the sun. it is best sprayed in the early morning or at least so the leaves can dry before dark. also due to dew at night i prefer to get it on early so the larvae can eat it before the dew could dilute it.

last summer i had excellent luck hand crushing the adults and larvae on potatoes. i did not spray once! i had 36' of potatoes with lots of foliage but the timing and throughness really paid off. it is very time consuming because you have to be very careful, those larvae are very small initially. the adults always drop so keep 1 hand abot 3" below them and you'll kil 3X as many. but if you kill all the adults for a few days and the larvae too you really disrupt their breeding. i only did this 3 times but it look an hour+ each time.


tom
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