Hornworms in the city.

[discoprincess]

I live in Brooklyn, and I do container gardening on my south-facing terrace. I have grown tomatoes (among other veggies and herbs) off and on this way for a few years, and I have never encountered a tomato hornworm personally until this week. I've had thrips, aphids, whiteflies, but never a hornworm before.

On Sunday (I think) I found one on my Sweet Million plant. This evening I found at least five more. The Sweet Million was the first plant to ripen; there were several ripe trusses that I was going to harvest. Instead, I found a bunch of defoliated branches and half-eaten tomatoes. I was so dejected, I cut the plant back by at least a third or a half. (I didn't even bother picking them off; I left them on the branches when I pruned them. The little buggers can keep munching on them all they want...to the city dump!)

I thought that somehow being in the city kept me more or less immune to hornworms; I guess not.