Tomato Damage

livinonfaith · April 2, 2012

Someone mentioned looking for a cluster of eggs on the bottom of the leaf. I'm pretty sure that isn't correct. Here is a link to a picture of a hornworm egg. (Third one down.)

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/hornworm.html

The ones I've seen are usually laid singly on the top of the leaf. It's like a pretty little translucent greenish whitish orb, very small but easily seen with the naked eye. If you're a nut case, like myself, and go around checking out your tomato plants every day, they're fairly easy to spot. At least the ones sitting on the top of the leaf are.

I read that the Tomato hornworms lay theirs on the top of the leaf, but the Tobacco hornworms (basically the same thing) lay theirs on the underside. Since Tobacco hornworms will eat tomatoes too, I try to keep an eye out for those as well, but I'm not going to go around studying the undersides of all of the leaves. (Not quite THAT much of a nut case!)

Since I figured out what those little orbs were, I haven't had very many hornworms, but the few that have hatched have occasionally managed to get big enough to do a bit of damage!

April 2, 2012	#21
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Someone mentioned looking for a cluster of eggs on the bottom of the leaf. I'm pretty sure that isn't correct. Here is a link to a picture of a hornworm egg. (Third one down.) http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/hornworm.html The ones I've seen are usually laid singly on the top of the leaf. It's like a pretty little translucent greenish whitish orb, very small but easily seen with the naked eye. If you're a nut case, like myself, and go around checking out your tomato plants every day, they're fairly easy to spot. At least the ones sitting on the top of the leaf are. I read that the Tomato hornworms lay theirs on the top of the leaf, but the Tobacco hornworms (basically the same thing) lay theirs on the underside. Since Tobacco hornworms will eat tomatoes too, I try to keep an eye out for those as well, but I'm not going to go around studying the undersides of all of the leaves. (Not quite THAT much of a nut case!) Since I figured out what those little orbs were, I haven't had very many hornworms, but the few that have hatched have occasionally managed to get big enough to do a bit of damage!