aaargh, tomato WORMS

[LEFSElover]

help dc'ers.
how on God's green earth do I rid my beautiful tomato plants of those *(^&%$#) tomato worms?
I left two days ago after finding one on one of my plants.
gad, they blend in so well you wonder about your eye sight. I killed the bugger but after just feeding the pooches, I noticed that all my new growth and baby leaves are GONE~!~ Sure enough one big fat worm on there, he's squished now but do they leave rapidly growing larve or something that hatch overnight and then become huge all of a sudden? help.

yes, I sprayed that sudsy plant bug killer on it but I guess the tomato worms think it's tastes just great!​

 

[PA Baker]

I get tomato horn worms every year, too, Lefse, and from what I've read, there's very little you can do at this time of year except to pick the buggers off your plants. We (OK, I guess I should give DH full credit at this step! He does the "removal") pick them off, drop them in a bucket of water and let them drown. Doesn't seem very humane, but they're just way too big to squish! The master gardener at our cooperative extension said taht to really rid your soil of them, you must till to 2' deep pre-planting season and add some sort of insecticide to hit their eggs. He said that ultimately it's easier to just keep picking and cursing!

 

[Alix]

Lefse, save some crushed eggshells and sprinkle them around your plants. The worms don't like crawling over the pokies and if you've got rid of most of the ones ON the plants you might be OK.

 

[GotGarlic]

This page says that planting marigolds near the tomatoes can help: Gardening pests control with plants

I've planted marigolds with my tomatoes for years; I'd heard they keep the nematodes away, too. I don't think I've ever seen hornworms on them.

 

[carolelaine]

You can pick them off or use 7 dust on your plants. As far as pesticides go, it is not very strong. They will get on your peppers and eat them up also, so keep an eye out. If you see one with little white eggs all over it, you shouldn't kill it because those are the eggs of a beneficial wasp that eat the worm and kill it. I know icky. You can also get the wasps from some of the garden catalogs and let them loose near your plants.

 

[Constance]

BT (bacterium thuringiensis) will take care of them. The dry form, Dipel, is just dusted on like Seven. It only only affects worms...paralizes their digestive systems...and doesn't harm honey bees or other beneficial insects. It's also totally safe for humams.

You can pick them off if you can find them...they are really hard to see! You'll see their castings around the plant first.
My daughter rescued a tomato worm for a pet when she was a little girl. She loved any kind of critter.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...result&cd=1&q=bacterium+thuringiensis&spell=1

 

[BreezyCooking]

I had all my container tomatoes defoliated this year by them, due to my neglect, but they're slowly coming back.

Unfortunately, I can't stand to squish the worms, & hate using BT on my container deck plants, so I pick them off by hand & pitch them out into the yard, figuring they'll either die on their own or something will eat them.

I have to admit that the Tomato Hornworm moths are quite attractive.

 

[auntdot]

Everywhere we have lived there were the ugliet than sin tomato hornworms. We almost never find them here (OK, every once in a while, maybe one or two per year).

Always found the planting marigolds worked very well. And have used the BT spray.

I am more in favor of chemicals on foods than one of us, but still prefer the less pesticide approach.

It is a bit late for the marigolds. Believe they are there to prevent moma moth from depositing her eggs. I guess they stink more to the moths than they do to me.

At his point I suggest the BT and vigilence. Carefully examine the plants evry day and stomp verminous 'pillars. Not much else you can do.

Next year you might want to try the marigolds, they have worked for us.

One year found fellas that looked like them on the dill plants, we figured they they had been there about two days and ruined all the plants. No idea if those worms were the same as the tomato fanciers. Just curious if anyone else has had a similar experience.

 

[silentmeow]

I planted marigolds and basil with each tomato plant this year and have yet to see a worm. Guess my luck is holding! If the worm on the dill is black and green striped it's a black swallowtail catepillar. They are similar to the monarch but different colored. I love watching them! Good luck with the tomato worms.

 

[Renee Attili]

help dc'ers.

how on God's green earth do I rid my beautiful tomato plants of those *(^&%$#) tomato worms?
I left two days ago after finding one on one of my plants.
gad, they blend in so well you wonder about your eye sight. I killed the bugger but after just feeding the pooches, I noticed that all my new growth and baby leaves are GONE~!~ Sure enough one big fat worm on there, he's squished now but do they leave rapidly growing larve or something that hatch overnight and then become huge all of a sudden? help.​

yes, I sprayed that sudsy plant bug killer on it but I guess the tomato worms think it's tastes just great!​

I lost my whole plant to those little suckers. I was really really really ticked off. I will also be looking for the tips everyone leaves. So thanks in advance.

 

[oldcampcook]

Aunt Dot,

Those worms you saw on your dill were probably Monarch butterfly larva. I plant some dill in my garden, just for that reason. If you are ever fortuante to be there when the butterfly is coming out of the cacoon, you will be entranced.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Yes - please don't destroy any caterpillars you find on parsley, dill, or fennel.
They're actually not Monarch butterfly larvae, as Oldcampcook stated - they're Swallowtail butterfly larvae. Monarch butterflies host on Milkweed - not parsley/dill/fennel. The caterpillars do look very similar, which is probably why Oldcampcook thought they were Monarchs.

In fact, I try to plant more than enough of parsley & dill so both the butterflies & I can enjoy them. And when I find the caterpillars on plants I've staked out for myself, I carefully move them over to the "buffet" I've grown just for them - lol.

 

[krichardson]

I have my first garden ever this year, yeah!!! Anyways one night I get a call from my roommate who was up at the garden, he told me to get up here because there is this really cool caterpillar like thing that he had never seen before. After a week or so we found out it was a tomato worm. Coolest looking thing ever! I don't think it did much damage, but we watched him for about 45 minutes and it was very interesting. We planted marigolds when we planted the tomatoes, we have a total of 7 tomato plants and 8 marigolds in between them. We have yet to see another worm, but I was wondering if you find more are the more around. Also last night we were peacefully picking beans, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, and peppers when my roommate yells out and tells me not to come where he is because I would freak out. Of course I went over to where he was and oh my gosh a big ol snake!!!!!! I screamed yelled and high tailed it out of the garden. I'm such a wuss. It was pretty big and all brown. Anyone know if snakes harm your garden or help it? It was still in there when we left last night and I was going to water by myself tonight but now I'm not so sure!