Hornworms in the city.

discoprincess · July 24, 2013

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.

jennifer28 · July 24, 2013

Interesting. Did you grow all your own plants this year from seed? Where did you get the soil mix from?

efisakov · July 24, 2013

I was away for 3 weeks last year, my family watered the plants. They did not pay attention to anything else. Well, one of the plants got eaten by a hornworm so that about 1 foot of the main stem remained and no leaves. Than my husband and son discovered huge caterpillar. This year I have found 5 so far. 2 were on the Anna Russian plant. I noticed the droppings on the ground. They were so big, bigger than a mice droppings.
btw, I am just across the Hudson river from you. This year and last year we had more bugs than in 10 years before it all together.

discoprincess · July 25, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Interesting. Did you grow all your own plants this year from seed? Where did you get the soil mix from?

The affected plant was a seedling I bought from a local vendor. As for the soil mix, I believe I put new soil into the 5-gallon bucket. (Soil gets a little heavy to carry on mass transit and it's tricky to transport!)

I put a lot of effort which was why I was disappointed that hornworms attacked this plant.

None of the remaining plants I grew from seed.

FaithHopeLove · July 25, 2013

I've been getting tons of hornworms this year! I picked and killed 10 off one tomato plant. Needless to say I HATE them! I've killed about 50 within 4 days I've never had this many before, maybe 1 or 2 here and there but never THIS many!

saltmarsh · July 25, 2013

So, a hornworm will grow in Brooklyn. Since you only have a few plants, stopping the hornworms should be fairly easy.
The trick is to catch them while they are small. When the Spinx or Hawk moth lays its eggs, it's normally on the underside of the leaf and looks like a little green wart the same color as the leaf. When the egg hatches the worm looks like a miniature version of the big ones destroying your plants and moves to the edge of the leaf it's on and starts its march to Atlanta.

What you want to look for is little black specks of frass (poop) on the top of a leaf. Carefully examine the edge of the leaves above the frass and you'll find your worm before it can do damage to the plant.

If you can't find the worm, don't worry, just flick the leaves to remove the frass and wait about 15 minutes and more will magically appear. If you still can't find it, check the next day and you'll find bigger clues. Rinse and repeat. Claud

KathyDC · July 25, 2013

A Hornworm Grows in Brooklyn

Seriously though, sorry to hear it. I've had to pick off about five this year that I've seen so far. I hate those things! The worst part is how hard they cling to the vine, it makes grabbing them off so unpleasant....

Kathy

livinonfaith · July 25, 2013

Oddly enough, I haven't found but two worms this year and maybe four eggs.

Last year, I probably found about twenty worms (only a couple got large enough to do serious damage) and picked off well over one hundred eggs!

That was by far the worst year for hornworms for me, but this year is, by far, the least I have ever seen. I can only assume that all of the rain here has something to do with it.

It only takes one momma moth to find your "stash" and lay a few eggs. On mine, it seems like they spread them out over a few plants. (probably because they need so much food to make it to the cocoon stage) Sounds like yours was the only suitable place she could find, so she concentrated all of her offspring in the few you had!

Maybe they won't find you next year! Maybe you could throw a fine net over them at night.

July 24, 2013	#1
discoprincess Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57	Hornworms in the city. 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.

July 24, 2013	#3
efisakov Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NJ, zone 7 Posts: 3,162	I was away for 3 weeks last year, my family watered the plants. They did not pay attention to anything else. Well, one of the plants got eaten by a hornworm so that about 1 foot of the main stem remained and no leaves. Than my husband and son discovered huge caterpillar. This year I have found 5 so far. 2 were on the Anna Russian plant. I noticed the droppings on the ground. They were so big, bigger than a mice droppings. btw, I am just across the Hudson river from you. This year and last year we had more bugs than in 10 years before it all together. __________________ Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!”

July 24, 2013	#2
jennifer28 Two-faced Drama Queen Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital Posts: 955	Interesting. Did you grow all your own plants this year from seed? Where did you get the soil mix from?

July 25, 2013	#5
FaithHopeLove Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Summerfield, FL Posts: 197	I've been getting tons of hornworms this year! I picked and killed 10 off one tomato plant. Needless to say I HATE them! I've killed about 50 within 4 days I've never had this many before, maybe 1 or 2 here and there but never THIS many!

July 25, 2013	#6
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	So, a hornworm will grow in Brooklyn. Since you only have a few plants, stopping the hornworms should be fairly easy. The trick is to catch them while they are small. When the Spinx or Hawk moth lays its eggs, it's normally on the underside of the leaf and looks like a little green wart the same color as the leaf. When the egg hatches the worm looks like a miniature version of the big ones destroying your plants and moves to the edge of the leaf it's on and starts its march to Atlanta. What you want to look for is little black specks of frass (poop) on the top of a leaf. Carefully examine the edge of the leaves above the frass and you'll find your worm before it can do damage to the plant. If you can't find the worm, don't worry, just flick the leaves to remove the frass and wait about 15 minutes and more will magically appear. If you still can't find it, check the next day and you'll find bigger clues. Rinse and repeat. Claud

July 25, 2013	#7
KathyDC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Suburban Washington, DC (Zone 7A) Posts: 347	A Hornworm Grows in Brooklyn Seriously though, sorry to hear it. I've had to pick off about five this year that I've seen so far. I hate those things! The worst part is how hard they cling to the vine, it makes grabbing them off so unpleasant.... Kathy

July 25, 2013	#8
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Oddly enough, I haven't found but two worms this year and maybe four eggs. Last year, I probably found about twenty worms (only a couple got large enough to do serious damage) and picked off well over one hundred eggs! That was by far the worst year for hornworms for me, but this year is, by far, the least I have ever seen. I can only assume that all of the rain here has something to do with it. It only takes one momma moth to find your "stash" and lay a few eggs. On mine, it seems like they spread them out over a few plants. (probably because they need so much food to make it to the cocoon stage) Sounds like yours was the only suitable place she could find, so she concentrated all of her offspring in the few you had! Maybe they won't find you next year! Maybe you could throw a fine net over them at night.