Now, I don't know if what I have are hornworms, but i've got some kind of worm that showed up day before yesterday. I don't have very many plants so it's not a big deal to pick them off. If I had a larger crop; I'd be pretty aggravated. Prolific little creatures, aren't they?

Taira

I have found four in the last 2 days. So far I have had less insect problems than last year, maybe it is too dry for the insects. Hopefully, I won't have as many hornworms as last year. I had over 100 that I picked off of plants last year.

Jan

I too picked three horn worms from the tomato plants. They chapped off some leaves and newly sprouted tips of the recovering plants. They were already pencil thickness, I don't know where they were hiding despite of my regular morning patrol. -Chandra

Yup. I decided not to spray BT as a preventative measure this year. Mistake. My tomatoes, already drought and nematode stressed, were stripped overnight. The worms are just so hard to spot, and by the time I see the signs (hornworm poop and stripped leaves), my plants are all but bare, and I still have to look and look and look to spot the hornworms.

Jo

You risk the wrath of the Horn Worm Defence League? Perverts who grow tomatos for the sole purpose of attracting Horn Worms, giving them names , making little outfits to take thier pictures in. Some of them even lurk around here!

I like the moths and they must like me in return because even though I've been seeing the moths since April, I haven't found a hornworm or hornworm damage on any of my tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or daturas. I suspect they are feeding on the native nightshades that grow wild in the pastures.

Jay and everyone else who's got them, I am sorry to hear it. I hate it when they are on my tomato plants, but generally if I have any, I just move them to something outside the veggie garden...like the native nightshades.

Y'all know they are easy to spot at night in the garden with a black-light flashlight, don't you? Well, at least once they're large enough that they have their white stripes.

Jan, We're having a pretty good bug year here too. Usually by now the squash bugs and squash vine borers have gotten my squash, and this year I haven't seen a single one of them. I hope it is the weather. That way at least something good is coming out of this awful heat and dryness.

Taira, Click on the link to see photos of both tobacco and tomato hornworms. I tend to see the tobacco hornworms more than the tomato hornworms. Both are equally destructive. The rest of you shouldn't click on this link if looking at the photos is going to make you break out in hives or something.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms

Punkin, are you talkin' about me??? lol.

You hornworm loving crazies can come take mine, LOL. I say kill them all. Anything that eats my garden or bites people is fair game. The list of things I want to see dead is long. ;)

I don't have a blacklight and I'm scared to go in the garden at night...I worry that if there is a snake around, I won't see it.

I have a volunteer pumpkin or squash of some type that I have been ignoring. Mainly because it's a volunteer, I have no idea what is growing, and I don't have any time, money, or love invested in it. Yesterday I took a look and I have two softball sized orange veggies growing. And squash bugs. By the hundreds. It's strange because the plant is huge and robust, no signs of damage. But they were EVERYWHERE. There were eggs on more than half of the leaves, and I spent a good hour pulling off leaves and crushing bugs. The plant looks worse now than it did before! The squash bugs don't seem nearly as harmful as the svb, which kill my plants outright and seeminly overnight. But I sure did enjoy crushing them.

Jo

I looked at the images. Not a match for what I've got. Don't know what they are, but I'll just keep picking them off.

Taira

I have only had one hornworm so far in the past two years, but I wonder if any of you have ever heard of this trick? When I put in the tomatoes, I fold pieces of aluminum foil down into strips about 2 inches high and maybe 6" long. Then I take the strips and wrap them around the base of the stalk to make a collar, out far enough that it can still breathe but no more than that. I just fold over the edges and finish the planting. It would be insane to do that in a big tomato patch, but for a small garden it works wonders. I can't remember where I learned it. It was a really long time ago, but since i do hate hornworms, I've used that method ever since.

With any of the big grubs or nasty things like hormworms that we might find, they all go to the chickens, who love them. I consider it natural recycling.

Pat

Only one hornworm here so far this year; it ate the top out of one of my sweet peppers. And it went to the chickens, too.
However, I do enjoy the moths, but I've seen none this year.

Tom

Trust me! No matter how pretty the moths are, I will never ever save a hornworm. I have had very few since I have lived here and almost all were on container plants growing outside the main garden. Of course, you never know when they will hit your garden and they are VERY destructive.

Wouldn't the foil collar be for the cut worm and not the HW ?

Found my first large hornworm today. Gave it to the three week old chicks. At first they were afraid of it, gave it the big eyeball and steered clear. It was so funny to watch the expressions on their faces as they noticed that it was moving!

Taira,

If you are seeing really small green caterpillars, they may be the early instars of the hornworms, or they could be tomato fruitworms or beet armyworms. If you are seeing teeny-tiny caterpillars that tunnel into the fruit near the stem end, that's tomato pinworms. Really, it could be almost any sort of caterpillar---especially if you're in a pretty dry area where the tomato plants are the prettiest, tastiest foliage around.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Images of Some Tomato Pests

I found another one today. I'm sure it will be an everyday battle for a while. So far have caught them before they have hurt the plants much. I usually have both the tomato and tobacco horn worms. Jay

just found one of those suckers today. It's now a green smear in the pathway. I'm going to keep my eyes on everything because I bet there are more hiding in there. Wish I had a black flashlight!

Diane

Punkin, I don't know if the foil collars work on cutworm or not. All I do know is that when I use them, I don't have hornworms. As I said, It would not be reasonable to do it with a big patch, but if you have less than 25 or 30 plants, I think it's worth it. Nothing much worse than finding plants stripped down to bare stems by those greedy beggars.

The only other caterpillar I've seen is the oakworm. The little tiny guys that travel down from the oak trees. They don't seem to be a destructive problem here, although they can be in other parts of the country. I've used BT for caterpillars in the past, and personally thought it was marginally effective.

Pat

Diane,
Another this morning. As if all of my plants haven't had enough of a test. And the ones you so graciously sent also had the long Pony Express trip and now to have a hornworm crunching on them seems a little extreme. Just sent him to hornworm heaven before I came in to get a pen and too cool down a little. They seem to have a good choice in plants. I've been waiting on the Dana's Dusky Rose you sent and then he takes a bite before I do. Was his last mistake. Jay

Diane, Wal-Mart used to have blacklight flashlights on their flashlight aisle, which in our store here is near the sporting goods area.

Pat, I've never heard of aluminum foil preventing tomato hornworm infestations. It might prevent the hornworms from moving from one plant to another, but it won't prevent all hornworm damage because the moths lay the eggs right on the leaves of the tomato plants. I don't use foil and I rarely, if ever, have any hornworms on my plants either....and I have 100 tomato plants. So, while foil may be protecting your plants from hornworms, it also could be that your plants, like mine, wouldn't have hornworms anyway.

Jay, It sounds like you're in for a long battle with those suckers!

Dawn

I noticed backlights in the insecticide section at Home Depot yesterday. They're used for spotting scorpions. Maybe you can find them there?

Jay, I sure hope you end up with a decent tomato harvest after all you've put up with this year.

Dawn & Tracy, thanks! I had no idea such everyday places carried them. I've put it on my shopping list for my next trip to town. It won't be for two weeks since I was just there today.

By the way, WalMart has quit carrying the organza wedding/party bags that a lot of us use for bagging blossoms. I asked at two WMs this weekend and they both said that. They're now carrying *plastic* party bags. Guess I'll be spending some time sewing more soon. Or maybe I'll be lazy and order from ebay. LOL

Diane

Try ordering off Amazon. Do you have Amazon Prime? I hate going shopping, since I have Amazon Prime and get free shipping. I got a killer deal on 1/2 pound of vanilla beans the other day, I think I paid about $25!

When I went back to the garden after the earlier post found 3 more. So far the biggest has been about half grown. One plant had 2 on it. Nothing has been hurt real bad yet that are in the garden. Hadn't checked the plants I was holding as well as I should of and 2 of them have been stripped. They were extra's and one was probably going to the compost pile tomorrow anyway. The other one I had planned to put in a container this weekend and then move it into the lean too later. I have plenty to replace it with. I'm hoping it will be one wave and then slack off and not last 5-6 weeks like last year. Jay

Chickens 8, Hornworms 0

Jay, thanks for the heads up. We picked 8 hornworms off of 12 tomato plants today, with 4 on one plant and singles on 4 others. The plants are big and vigorous, but I know we lost a lot of potential production on that one.

I find it odd that our hornworm infestations are so closely timed when you are 200 miles to the north. Also, I hope that this is a one time flight/egg laying and doesn't continue for weeks.

To clarify about enjoying sphinx moths, I enjoy the very beautiful White-lined Sphinx Moth whose larvae feeds on the weedy Lizard-tail Gaura, rather than the nasty, ugly Tomato/Tobacco Hornworm Moth. The best part was I got Maria to help me locate the hornworms and you would've thought she was finding rattlesnakes for me.

Good luck to everybody in this difficult year.

Tom

Good grief, I just got three more of the suckers. They nearly stripped three entire plants and I know they weren't like that this morning. Not cool. At all.

Hubby's stopping by WalMart and Home Depot for a blacklight flashlight tomorrow on the way home from work. Thanks for the tip, guys.

Diane

I'm going to see if I have any BT spray left. I looked for one last night on my PH F1 plant. Couldn't find one and again this morning. So decided maybe I had picked one and forgot it was on that plant. Just went out to start some water. I can't afford to get behind with my work schedule. And saw some major crunching had went on. I finally found him. Almost 3/4 grown. I didn't see any BT in Guymon today. If I don't have any may have to order some online. Know if I don't I will have major damage to one of them. Jay

I usually have horn worms but this year I planted borage around my tomatoes and haven't seen one this year. I will definitely plant borage again next year.

'BORAGE: Companion plant for tomatoes, squash, strawberries and most plants. Deters tomato hornworms and cabbage worms. One of the best bee and wasp attracting plants. Adds trace minerals to the soil and a good addition the compost pile. The leaves contain vitamin C and are rich in calcium, potassium and mineral salts. Borage may benefit any plant it is growing next to via increasing resistance to pests and disease. It also makes a nice mulch for most plants. Borage and strawberries help each other and strawberry farmers always set a few plants in their beds to enhance the fruits flavor and yield. Plant near tomatoes to improve growth and disease resistance. After you have planned this annual once it will self seed. Borage flowers are edible.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Planting

I am glad you mentioned borage. I planted it this year for the first time. It made a big plant that was very floppy. Do you find it to be floppy or does it stand up for you? It took up a lot of space and I couldn't really see the ground to watch for snakes.

Mine didn't get very big but it did seem floppy, I thought it was because of this crazy hot summer.

My borage is big and floppy every year no matter the weather.

And another three this afternoon....

I'll be doing the black light thing tonight. I also have some Bt. That'll work on these suckers, you say? This is ridiculous. I'd only had them here and there over the years, never anything like this. Geez.

Diane

Dawn does it re-seed heavily? I am unfamiliar with it.
mo

Diane,
I'm beginning to think this "kind" talking that Dawn does might be a little more threatening than I at first thought. Seems odd they steer clear of her garden and devour my plants. LOL. Jay

3 more this evening. They are getting bigger. I can't find my BT so will have to buy some. Every year I keep hoping I'll have a light run. But they seem to just keep coming. Jay

She's cussing 'em clear up here, too, Jay. What a mouth she must have to scare them clear across two states! ;-)

I went out with the blacklight hubby bought tonight and it was a bust. I found one with my bare eyes, though. Shined the light on it and... nada. Nothing special that would have drawn my attention. It sure did light up my blossom bags, though!

Maybe I'm just not holding my tongue right for the light. I'll mix up a batch of Bt and spray the plants down tomorrow evening.

Diane

I relocated 9 of these huge monsters to another area... one of them escaped from Tanu's bug box during relocation but don't where? But I saw lot of dropping on porch this morning, took more 10 minutes locate culprit, it was the one who escaped and managed to climb grape wine and started it's work. I never thought they will eat grape leaves as well.

EEK!

Jo

HI! We have several tomato plants in containers on our deck. This is the 2nd season we have had the hornworms, so we've been inspecting daily and picked off quite a few, avoiding major damage. We now have 3 worms that are parasitized. Everything I have read says to leave them on the plant. But, when, if ever, can I remove them? How will I know the wasps have emerged? I'd like to spray with BT, but don't want to kill wasp larvae. Any advice? They are gross and I would love to be rid of them, lol! Thanks!

I think the hornworm will just die but I always remove them from my good tomato plants. Here is an article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hornworm

Thanks for the link, that was very helpful. But, can I remove the hornworm once the wasps emerge? Or will they fall off on their own?

I suspect something in my garden's little ecosystem controls the hornworms, because I see the moths every morning and every evening. They're outside nectaring at the night-blooming flowers right now. Or, possibly the wild birds take care of them. Since we put out bird seed and water for the birds, my garden is full of birds every waking moment.

Mo, Borage is an herb. I've grown it for about 15 years now. I started growing it as a companion plant for tomatoes and have continued growing it because the bees love it so. With all the trouble our bees are having nowadays, I'm always careful to plant tons of nectar plants for them. Right now, out in the pastures there's not much for the bees, so they visit my garden a lot. The only native plant that is green and blooming in the pasture right now (everything else is dried and crispy) is the frogfruit. I should move some frogfruit to the garden this year so it will be there next year for the bees.

Borage doesn't reseed heavily for me most years. I think it is likely my clay soil is so wet in wet winters that the seeds probably rot.

I always grow the blue-flowered borage, and some years I grow the white-flowered version as well. You find the seed in the herb section of garden catalogs and sometimes you see it on seedracks as well.

Joiseygirl, If you go back and look at the photos in the link, look at the last photo...where the little 'caps' are open on the cocoons to show the wasps have emerged. I think when the majority of the cocoons have the caps open like that, then you can remove the hornworms without any worry that you'll hurt the wasps. You probably could remove them even before that, but what you want to do is to encourage the brachonid wasps to stick around, so the less you disturb them before they emerge, the better.

Dawn

Sunday morning the tops were gone on 2 tomato plants (Better Boy and Better Bush) but not on the Heirloom purple. Found all the pooh underneath (never had hornworms) so I went searching. Then I searched the internet for natural way to get rid of those @#@*)#^. Cornmeal - that's right. I sprinkled some all over the plant and put some at the base. Five minutes later this 4 inch hornworm was on my patio (either he jumped or fell)lol The plants are in pots right at the edge of the patio. It's been three days and no signs of other worms. Hope it works for you.

Chandra, that is a great pic!!! I saved a dead sphinx moth for a teacher friend of mine to take to school.

Just when we thought we'd defeated the hornworms... Ugh. Last night, we discovered a whole slew of baby ones on the tomatoes & peppers. Guess I get to spray tonight (which will, of course, make it rain).

Diane