User avatar
Garf
Green Thumb
Posts: 422
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:35 pm
Location: Miami, FL

Hornworm Hunting Tools

As most of us know, Hornworm hunting is best done at night. As with everything else, proper tools are needed. The first item is whatever eyewear that allows you to see well up close. The second item is a STRONG flashlight. I have a large number of flashlights, so it was just a matter of selecting the best one for the job. It turns out the best one for the job is an oddball I picked up from our favorite auction site. It has 128 low power LED's and lights up my entire living room at night.


[img]https://www.mastercontrollinelinksite.info/forum/flashlight1a.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.mastercontrollinelinksite.info/forum/flashlight1b.jpg[/img]

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

If I may, keep that flashlight handy but use a blacklight instead.

Them little buggers glow don't ya know. :D

By the way I wasn't kidding they really do glow with a blacklight. Makes finding them a snap.

Than wack them with that big ol flashlight.
Last edited by gixxerific on Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Garf
Green Thumb
Posts: 422
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:35 pm
Location: Miami, FL

I'm not quite sure why, but mine don't seem to glow with a blacklight. I tried it. The big flashlight does the trick. A big pair of scissors does the rest.

ruggr10
Green Thumb
Posts: 352
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:53 pm
Location: Brunswick, Maine

Last summer, I would hunt them during the day, no flashlight, you can almost hear them chewing. I then gave them to my then 1 year old son. He plays with them to death before throwing them in the little stream through my yard!

User avatar
rootsy
Green Thumb
Posts: 435
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 1:58 pm
Location: Litchfield, Michigan

I have never hunted them at night... I am always too whipped by the time dark arrives. I pick them off during the day when I am scouting if I see them and the sign is pretty clear that they are around. They explode when thrown against a rock... Chickens love to play with them too.. Don't know what I am going to do this year... I got rid of all of the chickens.

User avatar
Garf
Green Thumb
Posts: 422
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:35 pm
Location: Miami, FL

Scissors work well.

User avatar
nes
Green Thumb
Posts: 631
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:20 am
Location: Rural Ottawa, ON

Chickens work great & free food for them.

With the warm weather we've had I've been getting the chickens out into the garden and digging down about 4-6" with the hoe to disturb the weeds. I have very very happy chickens ;).

ruggr10
Green Thumb
Posts: 352
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:53 pm
Location: Brunswick, Maine

I've been on the fence about getting chickens.

I don't know about dealing with them in the winter. They would be great for pest/tick patrol.

mattie g
Green Thumb
Posts: 583
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:58 am
Location: Northern VA, USA -- Zone 7a

If they taste like grubs, then my dog would like them...

estorms
Senior Member
Posts: 263
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:04 am
Location: Greenfield Township, PA

You can eat those chickens in the fall. Just don't give them names or make pets out of them!

MissHailey
Newly Registered
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:36 pm
Location: Palmdale, Ca

I HATE hornworms!! I always pluck them off with tongs from the kitchen (which I buy specifically for that and not for cooking lol) and chuck them over the wall onto the asphalt :) :twisted:

estorms
Senior Member
Posts: 263
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:04 am
Location: Greenfield Township, PA

I can look right at a hornworm and not see it. They can't camaflauge their poop! Find those black round poops and look up and there they are. Hornworms look really evil. Do they bite or sting?



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”