Ha! You guys are cute! I've never heard of the Indore method - now I'll have to look it up online. But it seems like my method is okay with y'all, so that makes me happy. I like the idea of adding stuff directly to the garden too - had planned to do some of that, but then things got to the point where I didn't want to disturb anybody's roots. I can't think of why there are so many worms this year - I'd like to take credit for it, but it seems like my whole neighborhood's got a lot of 'em. It's been hot and very little rain, so I'm surprised, although we had good spring rains. Loving my worms in any case! Even more than my vegetables, I think! I feel good every time I see them. Who would've thought...?

Are they about a cm long growing to about an inch long? If they are I had them on my roses this summer too. I don't know what they are called but they put lots of holes in leaf and flower. I hand-picked them off along with the Japanese beetles. I also happened to have rust, mildew,black spot and a lot of aphids all at the same time. I used a Safer's 3 in 1 pesticide, fungicide and (???icide) and in about two weeks the roses were very happy and very healthy. I don't know of any organic controls for the worms. Seems the season is nearly over so maybe mother nature will take care of your problem. Zone 4 has got to be cold by now. Cheers, Tyler.

Tim, On my computer, I enlarged the picture with the wormy things on it, and they're definitely segmented. That narrows down the search some. Other than the tomato hornworm, which these aren't, I've seen only pinworms and fruitworms and fruitworms listed as tomato pests. Both are segmented with dark heads, but I think the fruitworm is larger than the pinworm. If it's a tomato fruitworm, here is a description: "The larvae come in a wide variety of colors, including shades of pink, yellow, green, brown, and black. The color depends to some extent on the host plant. They usually have darker or lighter stripes running lengthwise on the body. They can be positively identified by the presence of short, sharp microspines between the hairs on the body, but magnification of 7 to 10x is necessary to see these spines." Tomato Fruitworm pictures and description Pinworms are also segmented, as you can see from the prior pictures posted, but these look larger than pinworms, even at their later larval stages. I cannot tell myself which one it is, though I lean toward the tomato fruitworm, purely from the pictures. If it's a fruitworm, I was able to find this information about their control. Control for the pinworms seems to require heavier-duty pesticides, aside from hand-picking and destroying them: Control Monitor the pest by selecting a leaf from 30 random tomato plants. Choose leaves located below the highest open flower. Healthy eggs are white with a reddish ring. If more than five healthy eggs appear, begin treatments. Pesticide treatments are also required when large numbers of small caterpillars are found feeding on leaves. This pest has developed resistance to many insecticides. Select an effective chemical. The following insecticides are often used for control: esfenvalerate (Asana), methomyl (Lannate), Bacillus thuringiensis, azinphosmethyl (Guthion), carbaryl (Sevin), and Pyrethrin/Rotenone. Parasitic wasps, especially Trichograma spp., are important natural enemies. Fruitworm eggs turn black when parasitized. Avoid planting tomato near corn or cotton to prevent heavy pest infestations. Tomato Fruitworm info. Anyway, good luck, and maybe somebody will come up with another ID that's entirely different. My plants haven't ever had any caterpillars but hornworms, so a definite ID will need to be made by those familiar with your pest.

i second BT...Bacillus thuringiensis go to your garden center and get a bottle of "caterpillar killer." that's BT...it's a bacteria that acts on the digestive system of the caterpillars and kills them...but is totally safe to us. it's organic...and you have to spray every seven days or so...but (for me) it beats having to hand pick if there is a heavy infestation. although...if they are only eating leaves and they are just an annoyance more than anything...then i would just hand pick. admittedly...i hate touching squishy caterpillars...(heebie jeebies) ESPECIALLY horn worms!!!! they're SO huge...they seem almost...animal.