This may be time consuming but the first defense against hornworm is locating the eggs..every evening I inspect the leaves (underneath) so many leaves to inspect so ya are gonna miss some..I do..the Hawk Moth is the culprit...the big parent..4-5 inches wing width..biggern...she usually comes out in the late evening to lay the eggs under the leaves. I saw only 2 last year and took care of them early....stomp.
I don't really know is there is a prime time for the Hawk Moth to lay the eggs because this year in late March I killed one laying eggs on the young maters still in their cups awaiting transplant. Right now the plants are thriving and I do my usual inspection fer pests so far so good. As far as planting distance I can see why ya had a jungle...in the future I would do a good 3 foot for determinate and even more for indeterminate..

Second question..Brandywines (3 species something like that)..aint had good luck with them (because of my region) though others have. I have heard they are at the top of the heirloom maters in taste but are finicky about conditions. There are several peeps out there that have grown BW in success..
Happy gardening..
p.s if ya see a hownworm carrying a lil sack of eggs on it's back..ya can kill it quick, or let it die a slow death because the parasitic wasp has already laid it eggs on it..the babies eat it.

Hi, I can't tell you when to expect your first tomato worm as we are different growing zones. I did want to add to Atascosa's hornworm with egg sac comment though.

I would definitely leave any hornworm found carrying a backload full of white sacs. For one I seriously doubt that particular worm is up for eating much considering it is slowly being killed.

Secondly, that is an entire generation of parasitic wasps (a beneficial) that would be destroyed should you kill it.

I hope I'm not coming across sounding preachy! If I do sound that way, I'm sorry. Chalk it up to it's early and I've only had half a cup of coffee!

Oh and I grow my tomatoes like you do, close together. Thanks for the idea of using tongs to get the hard to reach hornworms. I've been looking at my planting set-up for this year and was wondering how that was going to work should those little buggers show up again. Now I have a solution!

Michelle

I forgot to add my 2 cents to this portion of your question.

First you have to ask yourself how long is your growing season, how much time is left. Brandywines are late season so they need about 80 days I think?

If you decide you have enough time, I would start the seeds in cups. You don't need to soak or nick the seeds. Just cover lightly with soil and keep soil moist in a warm location. You should have germination within a week or so.

I planted my brandywine out when it was teeny, tiny. Only had it's second set of leaves. It has grown well despite the bad weather we've had lately.

Btw, Brandywine isn't supposed to like my hot, humid summers but I'm giving it a try anyway.

If you decide you don't have enough time left in your growing season, just store the seeds in a sealed plastic bag and put in the fridge. This year I grew mine from seed that was packaged for 2002! The seeds even survived a move from Memphis, TN to northeast NC. I think they were in storage for a few weeks while we relocated.

Good luck.

Michelle

Allow me also to second what Shellva said about the hornworms with the small white rice looking eggs on its body. LEAVE IT don't remove or destroy it. That worm is dead and doesn't know it. The Wasp that laid those eggs will help you in hunting down those Hornworms and may even get to the ones you can't find. And as Martha might say " that's a good thing".

Good luck with your garden.

Al

According to the Santa Clara County Extension site your hornworm problem month is July but your local county extension (don't know what county you are in) can give you more specific info.

There is also a California Gardening Forum here and someone there can better advise you on local dates so you might also post there.

San Diego also has an excellent Master Gardeners organization that works under the supervision of UC which is highly regarded for all its reseach on horticulture and its associated problems. I have linked their site below. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Diego Master Gardeners