Horn worms

[kgall]

Well I found my first horn worm today...And my second...and my third...and my fourth...and my fifth...and my sixth! (they are currently floating in a bucket of soapy water) I have known for a few days that they were there but couldn't find them.

Will the battle ever end? They are SO hard to spot! I would gladly share my fruit...if they weren't so darned damaging to the plants!

[MaryDel]

I picked about 15 from my plants today, most of which had wasp eggs on them. I squished 3, and moved the ones with wasp eggs off into my asparagus patch. This is the worst I've seen them in 9 years.

[Nick D]

I've got several friends who have been fighting these guys all season. I've pulled four myself in the last couple days; they also took a bath.

Two of them were in my tomatoes, and two others were manning the peppers. One of my jalapenos got picked clean, and a couple sweet banana plants each lost a couple leaves.

I didn't realize how big they got...the biggest was as long and wide as my index finger!


Good news is all the plants are still alive and well, even the jalapeno (which was by far my smallest pepper plant anyway, about a foot shorter than everyone else for whatever reason); he's already covered in new leaf growth just 3 days after I found the responsible party. I haven't seen any others yet, and hadn't had any (visible) trouble from them until last week. The bad news is none of them had hitchhikers, either, so I'm remaining on guard.

[gixxerific]

Them little buggers didn't get my tomatoes last year but they did totally decimate my jalapenos in just a day or two.

I don't think I have seen any as of yet this year. But I did find roughly a dozen small cat's on a tomato the other day they are in a better place now. I'm not sure what they were.

[engineeredgarden]

I have 34 tomato plants, and haven't found the first hornworm on them. Why? because I locate most of the eggs before they hatch, and also spray BT weekly...

EG

[farmerlon]

I have 34 tomato plants, and haven't found the first hornworm on them. Why? because I locate most of the eggs before they hatch, and also spray BT weekly...

EG

What do the hornworm eggs look like ?

[rainbowgardener]

I have 34 tomato plants, and haven't found the first hornworm on them. Why? because I locate most of the eggs before they hatch, and also spray BT weekly...

EG

There's a downside to everything... the more we spray Bt, the more likely it is we will be breeding Bt resistant bugs.

"There are insects in the wild now that contain gene variants that allow them to be resistant to Bt toxins, but fortunately they are small in number," says Raffi V. Aroian, an assistant professor of biology at UCSD who headed the study. "However, as more crops with Bt genes are planted, it's only a matter of time before populations of Bt-resistant insects grow numerous enough to become economically troublesome to farmers hoping to control these insects." http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/3465

Already populations of bollworms, diamondback moths, and European corn borers are known to have Bt resistance ... and probably others not documented yet.

Less is more! Don't use it any more than you absolutely have to. If you are locating the eggs and getting rid of them, that probably already gives you pretty good control over your worm population.

It helps to prevent resistance spreading in the population if you save a sacrificial plant or two unsprayed. That gives a safe harbor to the non-resistant individuals in the population, reducing the genetic advantage conferred by resistance.

If you hope for the Bt to continue to be effective, that is....

[garden5]

I found my first hornworm a few weeks ago. It must have been a juvenile as it resembled an inchworm, but it did have its first "horn."


I've only noticed hornworm damage on one plant so far. Hopefully, that's the only one.

[engineeredgarden]

farmerlon - here's a photo I took of one last year...

[farmerlon]

farmerlon - here's a photo I took of one last year...

Great photo! ... that's the way to teach. Super info... thanks!

I have a hard time spotting the green hornworms on the tomato plants, so I'm not sure if I will ever see one of those green eggs. But, if I do, now I will know what it is.

Next year, I am going to plant some "trap crops" of Dill around my tomato plants. The Dill seems to lure the hornworms away from the tomatoes, and I can spot those buggers easily on the Dill.

[kgall]

Thirteen today!

But on the bright side I only found 2 tomatoes that were partially eaten!

Plant dill next to tomatoes....check!

[engineeredgarden]

farmerlon - you're welcome. I have thousands of photos of things from the garden, so just had to dig it up...

EG

[MikeP09]

I don't know whether to be happy or not. This is my first garden this year and never knew what a hornworm was and actually saw one yesterday! I thought nothing of it and just plucked him off. So after I read this thread I went back out to the garden and spotted 2 more but these were covered with wasp eggs. I was told to leave them alone so I did, but I could kick myself for not killing the one I saw yesterday!
How many wasp egg infested worms should I let live? They already tore up a couple branches on one side.

[kgall]

My guess is let as many infested ones as you find live and let nature take it's course...They won't be alive much longer and you will have nature taking care of the problem for you!

Unfortunately all of the ones I have found have been healthy...at least until they took a little swim in what we fondly call...the bucket of death!

I only found 2 today. I am hoping this is a good thing. I read somewhere that the average is .5 horn worms per tomato plant. I am already over this and hoping that I am winning the war!

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, the ones with the wasp eggs will not be causing damage much longer. The one I saw like that at the CSA farm was already looking kind of paralyzed.