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

[DownriverGardener]

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.

[RogueRose]

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.

[gixxerific]

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.

[PunkRotten]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[rainbowgardener]

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

[DownriverGardener]

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.


Horn worm! Ugh! by ScottMBolt, on Flickr

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



Untitled by ScottMBolt, on Flickr

:-/