So that's what a hornworm looks like. I've never seen one before. Cabbage worms I'm quite familar with from raising broccoli in the past. Strangely enough, I never had much problem with them on the cabbage when I used to grow it.
Zucchinis do seem to grow really fast once they get to a certain size. It's like one day they're not quite big enough, the next day they're huge.
I've noticed that they aren't all that found of cabbage in my garden either. They chew on it some, but they seem to prefer broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and even kale. Both the cabbage looper moth caterpillars and the cabbage butterfly caterpillars. I very rarely find them actually on the cabbage, even when there's something like broccoli right next to the cabbage completely infested with them.
Interesting. We mostly found them on the broccoli also.
I had two kinds of cabbage going this year Chinese Hilton and Premium Late Flat Dutch. They had some minor feeding damage, but I can't recall finding any actual caterpillars on them. Even when the broccoli (green and purple sprouting varieties) and cauliflower (snowball and purple varieties) right next to them were completely infested. Interesting that we've both had them show preference for Cole crops other than cabbage. Wonder if that's a common trend or just an odd coincidence.
That's a good question, isn't it?