Public Service Announcement: "YAY! The Tomato HornWorms are HERE!" (Caution: Very Graphic)

[bvar22]

Yes! The Tomato Hornworm Season is upon us.
Anyone who has ever grown Tomatoes organically KNOWS that these worms are a disgusting pest.
The only way to deal with them is by vigilantly Hand-Picking them off of the Tomato plants on a daily basis.
These caterpillars are large, soft, and gooshy, and can break apart into a disgusting green, slimy mess in your hand.
("Eeeuuuwwww, I'm gonna be sick!")
If left alone, HornWorms can strip a Tomato plant Bare to the Bone in just a couple of days.


Last year, I ran across an Easy/Fun Method of "dealing" with Tomato HornWorms,
and have reposted this method with the permission of the original author as a Public Service for DUers who grow Tomatoes.

Step One: Find the HornWorm

Did you spot him?
Anybody who has ever grown Tomatoes knows how difficult this can be.
The little bastards are hard to spot.
The clues are:
Foliage stripped to the bone
and
Little dark green shit pellets on the leaves.
The worm will usually be on the underside of a branch somewhere between the two.
Keep looking.
Sometimes, it helps to grasp individual branches, bend them up to check the underside,
and use the process of elimination to methodically check the area.
I am still regularly amazed to discover that after I find one, I have been staring at it without seeing it for several minutes.

Ah HA!!

There that little sucker is.


Step 2: Cut Off the Whole Branch

The area where The Worm has been eating won't recover or grow new leaves.
This is much better and cleaner than trying to pull The Worm off the branch with your hands.
Cutting off the whole branch greatly reduces the Eewww! factor.

There! See how EASY?


Step 3: Remove ALL the damaged foliage where The Worm has been feasting and shitting on your lovely Tomato Plants
This is very important.
Removing the damaged foliage makes it much easier to spot NEW worms by observing new areas of damage. This is especially helpful if you have a lot of plants, or are too old (like me) to remember whether you have caught a worm from a particular area. If the damaged branches/leaves are removed every time a Worm is caught, finding any Hornworm damage the next day is a positive indicator of another Worm.

If a worm can't be found, go ahead and prune off the damage anyway.
That way you will be able to tell whether there is still an active worm in that area the next day.



Step 4: Tease your chickens into a vicious Feeding Frenzy with the prospect of a Tasty Treat

If you don't have any chickens, get some.
They are worth it if for no other reason than the deeply satisfying pleasure of Step 5.



Step 5: Toss the disgusting little bastard to the hungry and excited chickens...

...and watch with delight as these carnivorous descendants of the Velociraptor tear that Hornworm to pieces.
Here the Barred Rock on the right WON the HornWorm Scrum and ran off with her prize.
YAY!



Step 6: Go back to the Tomato Garden with hopes of finding another Hornworm so the whole spectacle can be repeated!
.
.
.
.
I'm not a Bad Person.
Hornworms make me that way.
:evilgrin:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I haven't found any of those on my tomatoes - at least not yet.

But if I do, I'll have to send them to you, since I have no chickens.

I wonder if cats would eat them?

[hedgehog]

2. Corallary: do not use those plastic disposal bags for Japanese beetles;

Instead, rig the funnel to drop the beetles into a pan of water and let the chickens know about it.

[LWolf]

3. This is exactly how I've dealt with hornworms for almost 3 decades.

:evilgrin:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. thanks for the pictorial essay

:)

[Tx4obama]

5. Adult stages of hornworms are known as sphinx, hawk, or “hummingbird” moths.

I was at the garden center one day and I saw two 'hummingbird moths.

Asked the guy there and he said they were not hummingbirds but that they were the moths that started out as hornworms.

A year or so later I found a couple hornworms on my tomato plants - I tossed them over the fence into the neighbor's yard (they don't have veggie plants). I couldn't bring myself to killing something that when becoming an adult was so mesmerizing.

Photos of the adult moth:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05517.html

http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/VEGPEST/hornworm.htm

[MuseRider]

6. I started looking the other day.

So far nothing. We got our tomatoes, in fact the entire garden in late this year....well we are late a lot of years but....so they are just starting to have nice sized growth and are loaded with tomatoes and flowers. One hornworm will do a lot of damage and almost decimate a small plant :(. I have large borage up that is supposed to help but I keep it mainly because it is one of the most beautiful plants. We will have hornworms.

We don't have chickens yet, I am still making my case, this is a good one though.

We used to tape them to bottle rockets or larger rockets. I can't kill things now but then I thought it was an appropriate way for them to go. It worked until I dinged a patrol car across a few yards and two roads away. Heard it hit. Saw the reaction but they did not see me as I ran into the house.

I like your solution better and yes, I could do that to hornworms. I hate to admit it but other than Potato beetle larvae I hate them the worst.

[4_TN_TITANS]

7. i remember this post!

Yearly tradition now? I've got to get more chickens...

[newfie11]

8. If you find one with little white things attached

leave it alone. That will kill the hornworm and spread to any others around.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Well done, bvar!!!!

Damn, why did I not think of that?

Next year, hopefully, we will have chickens, too. There are tons of insects in our field they can have.

[jul61252]

10. +100