How to Kill Leafworms on Eggplant

Killing Eggplant Leaf Worms

• 1

  Inspect your eggplant for leaf worms and larvae. Harmful varieties to look for include hornworms, which have large horns at the rear of their bodies; armyworms, which have gray or black bodies with yellow or cream stripes running the length of their bodies; tomato pinworms, which are green and spin silk tents over leaves; and Colorado potato beetle larvae, which have red or orange bodies with black heads, black legs and black spots on either side.

• 2

  Pick off by hand any visible worms on your eggplant. Crush them to kill them.

• 3

  Spray a broad-spectrum insecticide on your eggplants if you have a larger worm infestation, or to kill any remaining leaf worms that you missed on your visual inspection. Varieties that work on eggplant-dwelling worms or larvae include XenTari, Avaunt, Talstar, Delegate, Altacor, Intrepid and Sevin. Organic pesticides containing rotenone, pyrethrin or neem tree oil are also effective.

• 4

  Check your eggplants weekly for new worm infestations. Spot-treat your eggplants with insecticide sprays where you find the pests.

• 5

  Collect garden debris into piles with the rake. Burn the refuse at the end of the growing season to destroy lingering larvae and pupae that may overwinter in your yard and infest next season's crop.

• 6

  Turn under your garden's earth with the soil cultivator to kill and bury any ground-dwelling pupae that could return in the following growing season.