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DownriverGardener
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I walk out to my garden this morning, to find this guy ...

[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7549556638/][img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7549556638_2b2e065dd9.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7549556638/]Untitled[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/75814345@N05/]ScottMBolt[/url], on Flickr


Not cool. I found a second one right near him on the same plant too! Is that tomato wasted? Should I cut it? How do you control these things!?

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sheeshshe
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and the chickens LOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVE them!

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TheWaterbug
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Oompa-Loompas eat these as a staple, though they don't like them very much.

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Francis Barnswallow
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I use them as bait, bass love them. Squishing them is just plain disgusting.

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Halfway
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pick and squish!!!!!

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digitS'
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I had to look up Oompa-Loompas in the urban dictionary. I only go to that resource as a last resort :? .

Bacillus thuringiensis spray, also known as Thuricide Bt, has worked well for me. This is a bacteria that kills insects in their larval stage. Spinosad may work also.

I haven't had to spray for them in a half-dozen years. I blame 2 things: growing sunflowers in the veggie garden and the chickadees who visit the sunflowers often, long before there is any seed :) .

Steve

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sheeshshe
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ewww! how can anyone squish them thigns? they're so big it is like squishing an animal LOL

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DownriverGardener
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I found three other ones lurking around as well. I really hope they don't infest and ruin my crops - I have a LOT of tomatoes.

I have Take-down Garden Spray by Monterrey Garden Supply. It has Pytherins (sp?) in it, hopefully that will do the trick. I sprayed last week, but a rain washed it all away I believe.
https://www.biconet.com/botanicals/takedowngarden.html

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sheeshshe
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I've never had them completely ruin a crop. just go out there and check daily. Look for the poop that drops and usually above that you'll find the thing. you'll get them in all various sizes, the small ones are hard to find, but by the time they get big like that they've eaten a bunch of plant. you'll find them, just keep checking!

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GardenRN
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Not that it makes a difference as they do the same thing and are basically the same pest. But I believe that's actually a tobacco hornworm, not a tomato hornworm.

Same diet and destruction though, seek and destroy!

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applestar
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I posted these pics in '09 and now I just love to post the link to that thread every time a hornworm topic comes up. :()

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=90467

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gixxerific
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I have been searching haven't found any yet. Going out to pick and check again in a few.

Sorry to hear hope you find them or better they become parasitized. They are easier to find than.

here is site I found that will make everyone feel better to coincide with Apple's '09 pics. It show the life cycle as well as the best stage of their life, dead. :lol:
https://www.gardengrapevine.com/TomatoWorm.html

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rainbowgardener
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Those little wasps are really on the job, too. The only hornworms I have ever seen in my garden have all already been parasitized like that.

Go wasps!! :)

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GardenRN
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I meant to say something on here about keeping your eyes open. I saw a little one on the hood of my pickup the other day. I was not so patient to wait for the wasps to find him. I squished him before he had a chance to even think about finding my tomatoes.

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sheeshshe
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I just went out there and saw some eggs on a few plants. Thankfully my plants are pathetically small for this time of year, so they were easy to spot LOL! So I looked on the other plants and found a few tiny little baby ones. not much longer than 1/3 inch long. :) I'll look again tomorrow for others. I always enjoy the hunt, it is fun! It is like, where's waldo?

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DownriverGardener
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Thanks for all the responses folks! I sprayed some organic insecticide earlier, and I will be hunting for them now on a daily basis. It's crazy how I've had my tomatoes out since early May, and I've finally got my first round of worms.

I also put a bird feeder in the garden area in hopes that they'll not only go for the seeds, but for the worms as well.

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RogueRose
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I still think they're pretty! (I hope I don't get one) - I thought they'd be a pretty moth/butterfly if they were such a pretty 'pillar. Not so much.

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gixxerific
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RogueRose wrote:I still think they're pretty! (I hope I don't get one) - I thought they'd be a pretty moth/butterfly if they were such a pretty 'pillar. Not so much.
Ha Ha! They turn out to ugly and even bigger. :x

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PunkRotten
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Don't give up. I got these last year and every day I checked diligently and the problem ended. Some days I pulled over a dozen. After awhile you begin to get really good at finding them. Look for their droppings as well as stems that look defoliated. You will usually find them near by. They eat leaves more than fruits. I would usually pull them off drop them to the ground and take a shovel and chop them in half and leave them for the birds and other critters.

mattie g
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Last year I only noticed one hornworm in my garden, but by the time I found it, it was already covered in wasp eggs. I left it there. It didn't move one bit in the week or so it was on the plant - eventualy it "disappeared."

I haven't really been looking for them this year, and I haven't seen any damage, but this thread has got me thinking about it. I'll probably check starting today.

SarahSarah
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Ew, those things are so gross. When I was little, my dad would find them in his garden and place them under a clear plastic dixie cup to bake in the sun. He hated them so much.
Knock on wood, I've not had much issue with them in my garden the last 6 years.

rockhound
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The moths lay a single white egg on the top of the tomato leaf, usually near the top of the plant. The caterpillars hatch out and eat night and day so they grow really fast and do a lot of damage. I use the BT dust, usually try to put out a little across the top of the vines every 2 weeks or so as soon as they start to set tomatoes. SO FAR this year I haven't seen a hornworm. Check your other Solanum plants, they love peppers, eggplants, petunias too.

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rainbowgardener
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Interesting... You educated me, rockhound. I didn't realize my petunias were in the nightshade (solanacea) family also!

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DownriverGardener
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UGH! Checked on my garden this afternoon, and there were two of the largest worms just munching away. They destroyed multiple parts of many branches.

[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7562758886/][img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7562758886_246215a824.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7562758886/]Horn worm! Ugh![/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/75814345@N05/]ScottMBolt[/url], on Flickr

... and then, right after the first picture, the little bastard posed for the camera!


[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7562760958/][img]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7562760958_2df6f176e9.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7562760958/]Untitled[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/75814345@N05/]ScottMBolt[/url], on Flickr

:-/



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