Drats! Hornworms... things had been going well...

Hondo_Lane · July 3, 2011

I was several weeks late planting this year due to the weather but since then things have been going pretty well. I have thirty pretty nice tomato plants growing and everything is doing well.

This morning I was just planning on sitting in the garden a while and enjoying a cigar as the sun came up. However I happened to notice a recently munched on tomato! I knew what caused it and immediately started the search. It took just a few minutes and I found him and he was pretty large, I got lucky seeing the damage so early and getting him out of there. Spent a couple more hours searching every plant and found two more, one of which was very small.

I'll spend some time today researching how to best deal with these worms. I'm leaving on Wednesday for the Kentucky Nascar Race and sure would hate to come home to find a lot of damage!

feldon30 · July 3, 2011

You need BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis). It is a completely organic (OMRI) bacteria that gives caterpillars and hornworms chronic indigestion.

It's available in a dust/powder, but it can be tricky to apply. I prefer liquid contentrate, sold as BT Worm Killer. Worms take a few bites and they're done.

arivaraci · July 3, 2011

Found my first one a couple of hours ago. I actually screamed when I saw it! My plants really seem to be doing so well and then a hornworm - arghhh! I didn't find others after a fairly exhaustive search, but there are probably more.

Stepheninky · July 3, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

You need BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis). It is a completely organic (OMRI) bacteria that gives caterpillars and hornworms chronic indigestion.

It's available in a dust/powder, but it can be tricky to apply. I prefer liquid contentrate, sold as BT Worm Killer. Worms take a few bites and they're done.

I 2nd the BT the stuff works and is people and animal safe. Just ask at any box store or hardware store for dipel dust or BT

Tom C zone 4/5 · July 3, 2011

I will echo BT as an effective and organically aproved remedy.

July 3, 2011	#1
Hondo_Lane Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Memphis, Indiana Zone 6 a/b Posts: 10	Drats! Hornworms... things had been going well... I was several weeks late planting this year due to the weather but since then things have been going pretty well. I have thirty pretty nice tomato plants growing and everything is doing well. This morning I was just planning on sitting in the garden a while and enjoying a cigar as the sun came up. However I happened to notice a recently munched on tomato! I knew what caused it and immediately started the search. It took just a few minutes and I found him and he was pretty large, I got lucky seeing the damage so early and getting him out of there. Spent a couple more hours searching every plant and found two more, one of which was very small. I'll spend some time today researching how to best deal with these worms. I'm leaving on Wednesday for the Kentucky Nascar Race and sure would hate to come home to find a lot of damage! Last edited by Hondo_Lane; July 3, 2011 at 12:45 PM. Reason: Add picture

July 3, 2011	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	You need BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis). It is a completely organic (OMRI) bacteria that gives caterpillars and hornworms chronic indigestion. It's available in a dust/powder, but it can be tricky to apply. I prefer liquid contentrate, sold as BT Worm Killer. Worms take a few bites and they're done. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

July 3, 2011	#5
Tom C zone 4/5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 253	I will echo BT as an effective and organically aproved remedy. __________________ Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains.

July 3, 2011	#3
arivaraci Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 199	Found my first one a couple of hours ago. I actually screamed when I saw it! My plants really seem to be doing so well and then a hornworm - arghhh! I didn't find others after a fairly exhaustive search, but there are probably more.