YOu know, I was just thinking about those little jerks today. I have about 8 tomatoe plants that I checked today, and no horn worms at all this year. I have been lucky. I hope to not see any at all this year. I had them one year about 4 years ago and they destroyed all of my plants. I don't know if anyone around town might have them or not. What state are you in ??

Mine are gone from this zone now (haven't seen any evidence in a couple of weeks now), but I did pull about 6 of them from the plants this season. My son shot them with an air pistol. Is that wrong?

I found one solo big fat bug on one of my 60 plants, and I was thinking, that just might be too good to be true...so I went out today again looking, didn't see any...there are way too many plants to go around leaf by leaf searching...

if anyone tried the black light thing, I'd be interested in knowing what all they can spot with it. That would be great!!! and I've considered using one of those hand held butane lighters (the kind with the long handles that you light candles with) I've got one that throws a pretty big flame out, wouldnt that be great to use to zap the leaf footed bugs on my toms? I fantasized about them making a screaming noise as I lit them up....Is that wrong ;)

I usually use a scissors to cut the horn worms in half. that is right.

So far this year none have the white things on them.

It seemed strange because my 3 other patches of toms have NO horm worm damage at all. but this one patch was devestated. I can only guess they preferred something about these toms. are the moths that accurate in laying eggs. or that fussy they prefer only the best toms to chew on.

UGH! I just now had my first ever encounter with the little beasts. Let me tell you, it freaked me out. I'd seen pictures of them on the internet, but I didn't realize how large they are. I expected them to be 1-2 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter. These were huge! I found two on the tops of the western most of my two tomato patches. And now that you mention it, that is the side that spends more time in shade. After lunch I am going to go out and see if I can find more.

I stepped on one after my son picked it off for me and then he sliced the other one in two using a shovel. They must be packed tight because both times they exploded sending green goo everywhere. Yuck!

I'm finding something new to hate every day in my garden...

To Dangould and other forum members:
If you find tomato hornworms with "white things" on them, let them survive. These white things are the eggs of parasitic wasps which destroy the hornworm. More wasps mean fewer hornworms in the future. Be thankful for the "white things". I have just had to toss a dozen lovely early girls which had been munched by the critters.

The hornworms are out in force at the community garden. So far my home garden has none. Tonight I was complimented on my technique of squishing them! If you position them correctly under your foot and press and twist, you can get rid of them without green goo shooting all over the place. It took me several tries last year to overcome the gross factor. I still would prefer to have garden gloves on when I grab them, though. Some of the bigger ones have swung their bodies at my fingers and knocked them away....for a few seconds. I eventually got them. And I'm watching at garage sales for some tongs to give to some squemish friends to use. I can't always do the dispatching for them. I'll pass on the scissors technique to them. Haven't used that myself.

Early in the morning and in the evening I have better luck finding the hornworms. They are out near the ends of the leaves. It's tough to spot them midday when they retreat to the center of the plant. I haven't searched at night...might have to try that.

My husband can tell if there are hornworms on the plants near an open window. When he sits inside reading, he can HEAR them. I didn't believe it at first, but we always find one munching away when we go hunting after he hears the sounds.

My hearing is not good.

It looks like we are confirming that they prefer to be a little cool instead of out in the hot sun.

maybe we can invent a sound pickup device that locates them.

The thing that bothers me is that we seldom find small ones. we usually find huge one. I suspect they eat at night while small. It must take some time to go from a tiny egg to that huge caterpillar. I seldom see them during that time. I also seldom see a lot of damage then. maybe they eat the lower leaves hidden deep in the plant.

It would be great if someone had a battery operated small black light and went out at night to see if they glow in the dark in the black light.

well I tried a google search of tomato horm worm black light and came up with this statement

- Try a blacklight. Some have reported great success hunting for the worms at night by using a black light to help spot the worms.

there is much more good info on this site.

Here is a link that might be useful: info

there are all kinds of black lights on the internet. The LED ones look real good. there are two kinds of LED blacklights. bl and blb. or black light blue which is more expensive. there is also the traditional tube type.

here is a $5 hand held one that probably will work.

http://www.lightmyparty.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=2&gclid=COXv3tPT9pQCFQNaFQodO26fqQ

Here is a link that might be useful: black light $5

here was another quote

tomato hornworm hunting.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2008-01-01 20:18.
Thank You for posting the tip about using a blacklight to hunt the hornworms at night. I discovered this, years ago, and have had great success in searching for the little critters. I use a fluorescent desk lamp with a blacklight bulb, on a long extention cord. They stand out among the foliage, and are easy to pick off. I have tried to alert the world about my discovery, but this is the first actual mention I have seen, apart from my tip to Mother Earth News a few years ago.

I got 4 more this morning. 2 of them were next to each other chewing on the same leaf. I did not actually look over all the plants. I am sure there are more out there. I need to get a black light. my area is too far from the house for an electric wire extension cord. so I need a protable flashlight type.

I figured out what might be going on. This area of the garden gets shade toward the later part of the day. This must cool it down a bit before dark and the moths must prefer these toms. my other toms sit out in the sun for a few more hours toward the evening.

After reading all your experiences, I've been looking carefully and still can't find any. I think birds are my ally. I have many birds --starlings, robins, blue jays, and cardinals. They hop in and out of the boxes in my raised garden all day long. Some go for a drink from the drip irrigation, and some are in there hunting for bugs and caterpillars I guess.

I found 2 more side by side on plants in a different area as the other one...I cut them in half and left them on a brick on a bench...No birds seemed interested in them.

Dust w/dipel or spray thuricide , no hunting, squishing, stomping or missing some.

When I find them, I pick them off and drown them in a bucket of water. Yeah, it's gross kuz they change colors, but it's better than dealing w. them exploding when you crush them. My grandfather used to squeeze them in his hand. I'll pass on that, thanks!

* Posted by raisemybeds SouthernCT (My Page) on
Sun, Aug 3, 08 at 20:42

My son shot them with an air pistol. Is that wrong?

OMG, I was taking a sip of hot coffee when I read that...it landed all over my screen...that was great....

I am curious, how many of you that are finding these hornworms, are tilling the soil.
It will drastically cut down on the population if you do.
LIFE CYCLE

Moths emerge from overwintering sites in spring. After mating, females deposit oval, smooth, light green eggs singly on lower and upper leaf surfaces. Caterpillars hatch, begin to feed and are full grown in three to four weeks. The mature caterpillars drop off plants and burrow into the soil to pupate.

Moths emerge in two weeks to begin a second generation, during mid summer. Second generation moths deposit eggs on host plants, such as tomato. The caterpillars feed until late summer or early fall and then pupate. The pupae remain in the soil through the winter.
Till the soil after harvest to destroy burrowing caterpillars and pupae.

my area is too far from the house for an electric wire extension cord. so I need a protable flashlight type.

Probably another expensive but if this really work and your garden is far from the house. If you have an inverter laying around your vechicle or house. Use a 12V car,marine,Golf cart, or tractor Type battery with an DC to AC inverter and you will be able to power the blacklight.
If you were to use the battery from car, probably a bad idea since the things like 20 Watt lights can drain the batteries pretty fast depends how many Amp hours are in it.

After learning that these hornworms are where sphinx moths (hummingbird moths) come from, I have no intention of killing them anymore. Having said that, I learned on another forum that one gal simply plants a Disco Flame Marigold with each of her tomato plants and never has hornworms. The one time she forgot to plant a marigold with one of her tom plants, she got them.

So that's my plan. I'll simply surround my tomato patch with marigolds.

I've never had a problem with THW in the garden. I always try to plant some marigolds with the tomatoes though. But last year I did discover something. I planted four o'clocks for the first time. They were covered with tomato horn worms. I would suggest, if you have a large problem with these guys, to plant four o'clocks as a sacrificial trap plant - away from you tomatoes. Or if you like hummingbird moths, just plant them to attract them.

We get hornworms almost every year. One year we had a lot of rain and found lots of small frogs in the gardens. We didn't see a single hornworm. We live between two large ponds with lots of frogs. The frogs seemed to like living in the nice moist garden with the nice all-you-can-eat buffet. The lizards will eat them also.
Donna

^^^

I had an allotment gardening book in the UK that suggested making mini frog habitats for natural pest control. I wish I still had it, it had directions for making a mini pond out of a half barrel. Not sure if it would work in my climate or not but has anyone heard of doing this? I know frogs appear seemingly out of thin air in England, but not so much here.

For a Toad House, I've seen that if you make (break) a "doorway" in a terracotta pot and put a dish of water next to it(some say bury the dish to just above ground level).

I've seen it in my craft and gardening magazines, but have never tried it. You can find dozens of places that sell them, but making one won't cost you more than a couple of dollars.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make a Toad House