Hornworm Horror

[jillian]

I haven't seen any so far, knock on wood. But here is one from last year , post 37.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...Peppers&page=3

That's when I discovered the evil things hiss, yuk.

[pjhootch]

I have PARASITES!!!! finally. I found a medium sized hormworm on one of my pepper plants today, loaded with wasp eggs! I cut the branch off and put it on the patio table next to the tomatoes.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by pjhootch

I have PARASITES!!!! finally. I found a medium sized hormworm on one of my pepper plants today, loaded with wasp eggs! I cut the branch off and put it on the patio table next to the tomatoes.

Those are the cocoons, not the eggs. So you're even closer to having the next generation of wasps out there helping you out!

[pjhootch]

cocoons are even better...

Now if I can stop the beagle from stealing the green tomatoes because he thinks they are tennis balls...

[hovermother22]

I'm in a suburb near Chicago and had my worst year ever with hornworms. I probably had close to 40, maybe even more. I have a plot that I rent on a farm, and there are no tobacco plants nearby. I was constantly hunting and picking them off. I think 2016 was the first time we had them. I'm hoping because this winter was slightly colder it will kill some of them off. At least I feel more prepared now in terms of what to look for to limit the damage.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by hovermother22

I'm in a suburb near Chicago and had my worst year ever with hornworms. I probably had close to 40, maybe even more. I have a plot that I rent on a farm, and there are no tobacco plants nearby. I was constantly hunting and picking them off. I think 2016 was the first time we had them. I'm hoping because this winter was slightly colder it will kill some of them off. At least I feel more prepared now in terms of what to look for to limit the damage.

Spraying bT is the option I choose in dealing with these. Works like a charm. For those unfamiliar with it, bT is bacillus Thuringiensis. It is a naturally occurring bacterium in the soil and used for biological control of all kinds of worm-like critters, from hornworms and cabbage loopers to webworms, etc. There is also a variation to deal specifically with Colorado Potato Beetles (bT var. san diego).

It is non-toxic to humans. I know about when hornworms show up, start watching for them and start a bi-weekly spray schedule when the first one shows up. When that first diamondback moth (white with two black dots on the wings) starts fluttering over the cole crops, I start a preventative spray on them too for cabbage loopers.

You can usually find it in the big box stores or local feed & seed in a liquid concentrate under the commercial names of DiPel or Thuricide. I've also seen a dust under the name WormWhipper. Just check the ingredients and make sure bT is the active ingredient.

For more information:
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles...an/bt-ext.html

[hovermother22]

Thanks for all this great info!

[hovermother22]

I have 54 tomato plants in a community garden. I have had the same plot for five years, and all I grow are tomatoes because my friend and I can them. I know we should be rotating crops, but there is nothing else we want to grow and we love this particular plot's location. The hornworms for the last three years have been really bad. We got an early start looking for leaf damage, and would turn over the leaves containing little holes and sometimes would find a baby that didn't even have a horn yet or a very little one with a horn. Is it true that once they eat the lead or main stem, the plant will not grow anymore? We have used BT this year where we saw baby hornworm poop and couldn't find anything. Do you think that will help? I hope it doesn't discourage bees and other good insects from doing their thing.
Signed,
Very Discouraged Hornworm Hunter

[pmcgrady]

111 tomato plants, 2 confirmed kill hornworms, caught them early.

[nbardo]

Originally Posted by hovermother22

I have 54 tomato plants in a community garden. I have had the same plot for five years, and all I grow are tomatoes because my friend and I can them. I know we should be rotating crops, but there is nothing else we want to grow and we love this particular plot's location. The hornworms for the last three years have been really bad. We got an early start looking for leaf damage, and would turn over the leaves containing little holes and sometimes would find a baby that didn't even have a horn yet or a very little one with a horn. Is it true that once they eat the lead or main stem, the plant will not grow anymore? We have used BT this year where we saw baby hornworm poop and couldn't find anything. Do you think that will help? I hope it doesn't discourage bees and other good insects from doing their thing.

Signed,

Very Discouraged Hornworm Hunter

BT is highly specific to the target pest. The kind for killing caterpillars has no effect on other insects. It will kill any caterpillar though, not just hornworms.


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[Worth1]

Even a Caterpillar tractor?
Worth

[carolyn137]

Some info about tomato hornworms,some of which was posted much earlier in this thread,but it looks like those who posted later didn't see those comments.

First,the life cycle of the tomato hornworm

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&....0.ZIKSL9OpRIA

What I would normally do is to go down through the rows of my tomatoes and when I'd spot one I'd pick it off and stomp on it and step back as the green liquid innards sprayed all over the place.

But if I saw any with white eggs on it's back I'd leave it alone

https://www.google.com/search?q=Horn...&bih=815&dpr=1

I'd leave it alone b/c when those eggs hatch they go inside the worm and kill it, as in dead.

I know of no effective products/sprays that are effective in preventing/killing hornworms. And the frequency of their occurence can change from year to year.

So I just let nature take its course and would greatly prefer to deal with hornworms rather than Colorado Potato beetles on my tomato plants.

Carolyn

[kurt]

If they are up and out of the ground during the day early morning and don’t get found,they usually go and hide below surface.When watering containers in heavy drench mode they will come up and out.Whenever using some out of town mixes,they come as eggs in the mix.Pro mix brings me the Canadian green monsters,thanx for the lizards here they get them early.In the poll enclosed containers,a drenchof your favorite in ground pesticide will knock them out when morphing up .We are dry now and they are here also.