hi brian,

those horn worms can do alot of damage in a short time. i check my plants once or twice a day.

one ate my basil plant in a few days. i checked morning and night for it and couldn't find it. when i did, it was tiny. about the size you described. i can't believe you found yours.

i sprayed with BT just to be safe... :knock on wood: but i haven't seen them since...which reminds me that i may spray again this weekend...my plants are really bushy as well and i am 8.5 months pregnant so getting up close and personal with my tomato plants is getting harder and harder.

BT takes some time to work, so you need to spray while the hornworms are still small (i.e., now). And it only lasts 1-4 days on the surface of the plant (depending on conditions), so you need to reapply regularly until the pests are gone.

Found two more today.
I may just keep using the search and destroy method.
I need to run to HD today so I may look into some BT anyways

I think it isn't a bad idea to have BT around. I can't believe you find them so easily. When are you looking? What's your technique?

Tammy
I'm finding for the microscopic guys if I just look for any leaves that have signs of munches out of them, and turn them over BINGO.
For the larger guys, look for the poop(dont know the technical term) and look up.
Of the two I found today, one was tiny like the first three, and one was maybe an inch long and a little thinner than a pencil. Havn't seen any beasts like last year.

For the larger guys, look for the poop(dont know the technical term)

I don't have anything to add other than others have said (use bt), but I wanted to say that your comment above made me laugh out loud.

Hope you get your worm problem under control! Sounds like you're on top of it.

Did some more searching and found two more. One teeny guy and one about the same size as the larger one I found earlier.
And, I'm proud to say.....
I am now the happy father of a pet hornworm LOL
Put him in a mason jar with a few leaves. See how fast he devours them.
Off for some BT

Okay, here it is: the dreaded Too Much Information. 8-)

The technical term is "frass."

-- 1 powdery refuse produced by wood-boring insects. 2 the excrement of insect larvae. [Compact Oxford English Dictionary]

-- debris or excrement produced by insects. [Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary]

-- the mixture of fecal material and plant matter left by an animal, esp. an insect, after it has eaten its way into a tree, plant, etc. [Webster's New World College Dictionary]

Kill da worms, kill da worms, kill da worms........

Brian. Take a pic. I killed mine before I could take a pic for my blog

Definitely get some BT. I used the "search and destroy" method last year. Went out at night with a flashlight, even had the wife help, and we picked easily 200-300 over the course of the Summer (averaged about 20-30/night). This was with only 4 plants! I fed those suckers to my fish but they did massive damage to my plants.

I just found some leaves that look like this:

{{gwi:1354050}}

Can you tell from the patterns what type of insect is going this, and how best to treat?

{{gwi:1354051}}

Also, what is "BT"?? I have never used an insecticide in my life, so I need a quick education.

Thanks,

Raybo

I had the same kind of damage, and found about 8 baby grasshoppers! Needless to say, they're not hopping anymore :o)

Raybo:
BT=Bacillus Thuringiensis

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on BT

Guys there is another insect thats in our area that eats tomato leaves and fruit too, its called the Katydid, it looks like a green grasshopper. How do I know, because I've seen more of these guys in the last few years than I have the horn/fruit worms. Katydids are even harder to find then the dreaded horn/fruit worm. However I find these Katydids less of a problem than the worms. For some reason or another they dont have the appetite that the worms do. Hardley ever do they eat fruit, rather the leaves. They leave the same poop pebble trail as the worms do as well. So like I said, I tolerated them last year, and they never did any serious damage to anything. Your call though.

here a link for the katydids
http://www.cirrusimage.com/orthoptera_katydid.htm

Raybo here is link for info on BT
http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/leasttoxic.html

Damon

Ray
That's what some of the leaves I found baby hornworms under looked like....
Never used an insecticide myself either.
From what I understand, BT isn't really an insecticide, as it doesn't kill anything. The worms, or caterpillars if you wish, eat the leaves that have this stuff on them and end up dieing????? Right guys????????

Tammy
I'll take some pics later, but here is a pic from a guy I found last year

Regarding my new pet "Horney"
He has devoured an entire leave and left about six nice size "frass"(thanks Missingtheobvoius :) nuggets in the bottom of his new home

Brian

Brian,

What time of day are you able to find these critters. I have gone outside at all hours - - and cannot see any insects crawling around. Haven't been out at night with a flashlight though.

So far, no damage at all to the fruit, but that might change as they start to ripen...

Raybo

Ray
Yesterday evening and today mid day.
They dont look anything like the pic I posted above. 6 of the eight I have found are about 1 cm long and as thick as a needle....teeny tiny.
I look for little munching damage and flip the leaf over and inspect the underside. Thats how I have found most.

Guy at HD had no idea what BT was and tried to sell me some insect killer. I passed as I dont want to kill my friendly spiders and ladybugs.

I'm not really worried, I spend so much damn time with my plants that I'd notice if I had a real problem

I need to post a new thread about my little Big Beef that could. I replaced him in his home in a Tainer for Beauty King. Threw him in a pot with some old mix(just couldnt kill him) and now he is loaded with fruit. Had to gusset up his cage today :)

Brian, a couple of years ago I looked in vain for BT at our Lowe's; I don't remember if I asked anyone. The next year (having meanwhile bought BT somewhere else) I happened to notice that Lowe's did have BT -- it was packaged as a caterpillar-killer, but "BT" was there in the fine print. I can't tell you if there were other insecticidal ingredients.

I don't remember the brand (though I believe it was a major one) or the product's exact name, and I just searched Lowe's site and didn't notice anything that mentions caterpillars. But if the staff don't recognize "BT," it may be worthwhile to ask if they have anything that kills caterpillars, and read the fine print to see what's in it.

There is a brand of BT (you mix with H2O) called "Thuricide Concentrate". I found it at a garden center/nursery, as Lowe's did not have it. The brand is "American." I'm on the east cost in NC. HTH

Raybo
I was checking out my potted BigBeef this morning, and find a leaf that looks like this

Flip it over and looky looky here

Brian

Brian it really looks like you may need some BT.

Now u are making me scared for my plants. Especially after reading the poster who found 20-30 a night.

Raybo:

Yamagami's has BT. Don't bother with Lowe's or Home Depot around here. I found a "few" last year and just hand picked them off.

However, there was a funny story. My wife, who happens to hardly go into the garden, was looking at the tomatoes. She happened to grab onto one of the branch and just happened to touch a full sized horn worm. Mine you this woman screams at every little bug she sees. She said she screamed loudly then looked around to make sure the neighbors were not looking. LOL. Hmmm, maybe I will buy some from you guys to scare the wife. hee hee.

I think this year, when I find leaves half eaten, I will prune the entire branch off so I can tell when there are "new" catepillars/hornworms.

Thanks for info on Katydid Damon. However, my 2 year old niece-in-law is named Katy. So when their parents ask me what ate my tomato plants, I can't tell them Katydid or I might get a dirty look ;-).

BT purchased, loaded in my sprayer and sprayed.
We'll see...
Off to tend to my Rib-eye on the Q

when looking for hornworms, I have heard it helps to bob your head up and down, like a bird. But looking for "frass", then up, works for me!

I am happy to update that since I sprayed them with BT I have not seen one single hornworm or poopy evidence.

Brian