I have a tobacco hornworms, and they are perfectly healthy, except since yesterday. they are now a bit brownish, and are not eating. They aren't moving much, and I don't know if they are shedding, or they're sick. There are two. I got them six days ago, and on the 1st-3rd day, fed them tomato leaves. 4th through 5th i gave them both tomato and potato leaves. At the end of the 5th day, i gave them romaine lettuce leaves, and woke up today, to find they were slightly brown around the head area, won't eat, and minimal movement. They twist around weirdly, and wave their butt around a bit, but that's it. All the information on taking care of tomato/tobacco hornworms said it was ok to feed them romaine lettuce. I washed the lettuce thoroughly before feeding them. Is it the stuff they may have put on the lettuce? Maybe I can't get it off and they got a slight dose of it? I'm worried, and I've been raising tobacco hornworms for years. this is the first time I have fed them lettuce. HELP JEFFREY AND BOB PLEASE! Frankie is digging around to start his coccoon, and he didn't eat any lettuce yet. PLEASE HELP MY POOR CATERPILLARS!!!!!

i would go for the bt, the dipel. you have to hit the bug with the pyganic and it dissipates quickly.

My tomatoes were infested with them. I had to pick them off by hand. When I tilled I looked for their cocoons but I doubt I got all of them. Not sure about chemicals but did read it might help to introduce some parasitic wasps. I even tried to get birds interested in them but they wanted no part. They can do a number on a plant. Chemicals might be your best solution. Not sure if this is helpful or meaningful but they emerge from the ground and crawl up the plant so perhaps in the future early prevention is key? I am growing corn where the infestation was last year and I'm definitely going to use something on the young stalks to prevent them from crawling up.

I mostly plant dill around the processing tomatoes out in the garden beds, and sometimes I tuck in some cilantro. I also have pink buckwheat adjacent to the tomatoes. I grow one tomato for snacking on in the kitchen garden- it's in a container. I plant dill around it, and I also have planters of parsley and sometimes cilantro around it. I tend to let some mustards and carrots go to bloom through the year, and have a lot of bronze fennel too.