Jay, Well, until this week I would have said all "my" hornworms were hanging out in SW Kansas, but then a few more showed up here, so we know that is not true. When we have a bad hornworm year here, I usually start seeing them in March or April and I am not as kind to the very early ones because you know they could strip my seedlings bare before they can grow. I try to catch them very small in the earliest spring and feed them to the chickens. Once the hornworms are 4" long or so, the chickens won't touch them either. And, you're right, no one had better get in my way for the rest of the week. I am so far behind on garden work, and on putting up produce, that I am not putting up with any nonsense from anyone. LOL The break in the weather is rejuvenating both the garden and me. I worked in the garden for 4 hours this morning because the cool temperatures were too lovely to pass up. I didn't see any hornworms or blister beetles today, and only one stinkbug, so that added to my good mood. This afternoon, I'll be trying to work my way through a huge mound of tomatoes and peppers. I'm going to can most of the peppers, and maybe make some jalapeno jelly, and then roast some big tomatoes and boil them down to make sauce, and dehydrate a few hundred smaller ones. If I finish all that today, then tomorrow I'll get the onions into the cellar for long-term storage, dig potatoes, pick several dozen sweet peppers and put them up, and pick black-eyed peas. The melons are coming in at the rate of one or two a day, but we eat them about as fast as I pick them. Your ongoing drought seems like it has really contributed to the insect problem this year. I know we always have more pests in drought years, and they are just relentless. Your coworker who hasn't had a single hornworm will have some soon enough. I don't think I've ever had a year with absolutely none. His turn will come. (Not that I am wishing them upon him or anything!) Dawn

Hi Y'all! Ilene, I have to confess that I don't have slugs so have never seen slug damage on tomatoes. When we lived in Fort Worth, though, I only saw them on plants and not on fruit. I agree with Jay that the likely culprit is the tomato fruitworm. If you cut into a fruit, the worm still may be there. I often see green ones and brown ones and every now and then a blackish one. They all look basically the same but the color varies. To supplement the info Jay linked, I've linked the Oklahoma State University digital diagnostic page on fruitworms. Jay, I think you're right (as you always are). When I have tomato fruitworm damage, it looks exactly like what Ilene is seeing on her plants. One of the things I have found oddly fascinating about tomato fruitworms is how their name changes depending on what they are eating. For example, if we see them in ears of corn, they are called tomato earworms. If we see them in cotton, they are cotton bollworms. If we see them in tomatoes, they are tomato fruitworms. In general, they are just disgusting caterpillars! Ilene, I don't know what to recommend as far as control of the current maturing fruitworms. Because there are multiple generations in one summer though, spraying Bt will knock out the succeeding generations, but BT is less effective on the ones already attacking the fruit. Sometimes after it rains (not likely to happen here anytime soon, but more likely there at your place), I find them on the ground as if the rain has knocked them off the fruit and plants. Jay might have an idea for how you deal with an already mature bunch of fruitworms. Y'all stay cool today. It is so hot! Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: OSU Digital Diagnostic Photo--Fruitworm

I looked into the predator mites, but, at least while overwintering there's no way I could maintain the humidity levels required. Since I didn't really have a problem outside, at least not a severe problem, I'm hopeful that things will sort themselves out once everyone moves to the garden. I brought in 2 containered plants this past Fall without bare-rooting them or pruning or anything (one was oregano, the other the poblano pictured above). I suspect that's were they came from, but, who knows. Could have been in the potting mix I used after pruning. They sure are hard to get rid of completely, though (not that I have, mind you). :-)

FWIW, like Dave suggests, as long as the plants don't lose more than 1/3 of total foliage, they'll likely be ok. That damage looks healed over already & I don't see any holes in the new growth. That said, it may be cutworm or another similar caterpillar - they hide during the day. Cutworms burrow into loose soil/mulch around the base of plants & 'sleep' during the day. Bt can be used against caterpillars, but handpicking is often enough to control them in my garden. You can use iron phosphate bait for slugs & snails - it's pretty safe & degrades into fertilizer. I sprinkle the pellets around my tender new seedlings & transplants.