My enemy...

[asdjrocky]

Say hello to horn worm. Found him on my big cherry tomato bush as I was pruning a big, just sitting there on a branch at the very top happy as could be. And fat, boy was he fat. I've been finding a green cherry tomato or two with bites out of them and I thought maybe I had a night time prowler who just ate a bit, but now it seems I've found the culprit.

From what I've read they leave black droppings on the leafs, and and I've found those droppings on two other tomato bushes, but I can't find any more horn worms though I'm certain they are there. Evolution is a bitch, and let's face it, these little buggers look a lot like tomato branches.

Any advice? I won't use pesticides unless natural. I've read that you can use Bacillus thuringiensis, whatever the hell that is. They plant I've found them on, or the droppings are actually producing quite well and I don't want to lose any more than I have to, but should I just let them have their share, while I have mine?

I need some of you smart gardeners out there to help me out. Thanks! :hi:

[sazemisery]

1. BT will work but it is an indescriminant product and will affect all

catapillers. Hand picking is your best bet unless there are lots of them.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. I usually hand pick those.

I used to use BT but I've got a butterfly garden now and worry about killing off my desirables.

They are hard to spot but once you see the droppings start searching the bush above them. In my garden they usually stay in one spot until they've eaten the entire branch. Then they only move over a little bit.

Other things can make similar droppings too. I've mistaken grasshopper droppings for hornworm droppings before.

[asdjrocky]

3. And I just read a bit more about them.

Problem is, my plants are mostly determinants so they are pretty bushy. If there are more of them around, they're where I can't find them so I'm going to wait til dusk to check again. The site I found said they don't much like the sun.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Yuck! Hand picking is the best way.

Luckily they are big fat neon green worms.

[asdjrocky]

5. Yeah, lucky for me he was at the top of a bush I was pruning anyway.

I kind of just pruned, and carried the branch in for the picture.

[MuseRider]

6. Oh man I feel your pain!

I have had an infestation this week of those awful things and aphids. My tomato plants all had at least one of those awful horn worms. I am very squeamish about them, ICK! They won't let go then the squish and stuff comes out but after all that I can't kill them, I just can't kill things. I throw them in the woods but my husband says they will find each other and mate, still... I have never been able to live down the time we taped one to a fireworks rocket (my husband did NOT ME) and shot it off into the air. He HATES them. All week long they have been there, I did use some pyrethrim (?) on them and it seemed to discourage them for a while.

Edit because I posted too early...best to pick them I think but wear gloves...gads I am getting all icked out just thinking about them!

[asdjrocky]

7. Yeah, so far, I don't believe I've touched one.

But I never really know do I? Maybe once, or even twice, I've reached deep into the bush of the plant to get that special, ripe tomato and my hand has brushed across one of them. Yuck.

I know this, when it's dusk I'm going hunting.

[Gato Moteado]

13. "they will find each other and mate"

:rofl:

i gotta admit that i got a good laugh out of that.

larva don't mate. they eat leaves from a plant or group of plants specific to their species and then they form a coccoon or chrysalis and turn into something....usually a butterfly or moth. then they find each other and mate.

if you saw the moth that the hornworm turns into, you probably wouldn't be able to kill them. they turn into a moth from a group of moths known as hummingbird moths or sphinx moths. they're beautiful and they fly like a humming bird and they have long tongues to pollinate hard to reach flowers.

that particular hornworm will eat just about any nightshade....so if you see them on your tomatoes, just transfer them to another nightshade.

[japple]

14. Use kitchen tongs. They work great. Drown them in a bucket

of water and toss them out for the birds.

[Blue Gardener]

8. But they turn into hummingbird moths!

I was just reading about these the other day. The worms will also eat other members of the nightshade family, including potatoes and petunias. I haven't found any on my tomatoes so far, but if I did , I think I would put them on the petunias just so I could have hummingbird moths later in the summer.

[conscious evolution]

9. Plant marigolds and lavender beside

your tomatoes.
They both have a natural insect repellant thing about them.
In the community landtrust behind my commune the garden plots with marigolds and lavender have little or no insect problems but the plots without them are getting eaten alive.

[EstimatedProphet]

10. I found my first one yesterday

Flicked it onto the ground and stepped on it. I checked my tomatoes for a half hour afterwards, and didn't see another one, so I think I am good for now. Unfortunately there's wild honeysuckle growing in the trees right next to the garden, so it might as well be a beacon to the fivespot moths. And, the marigold I planted mostly didn't come up.

[asdjrocky]

12. I haven't found another one yet-

And on my two inspections so far today there's no evidence of them any longer. But it's kind of yucky, I just know they are there kind of waiting. Ya know? I ordered some wasps to kill any that are left, and I'll stay vigilant.

[bvar22]

11. Bad Worm....

...Bad, Bad, BAAAAAD Worm!
Ugly too......AND squishy.

Have you ever had one pop in your hand while pulling it off the plant ?
EEEEEWWWWWW!

I posted about Horn Worms today before reading your thread. :dunce:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x9431