Worms/Worms/Worms

[Guilt Trip]

mY FIRST TOMATO Horn Worm "what an ugly thing" my 5 year old daughter saw it first she said "Oh my Goss" look at this worm, full of our tomato leaves and upon looking closer a belly full off of one or two tomato bites here and there. So she gave me the coffee can and said here's it's new home. I have a few new friends in my corn plants "worms/worms/worms, so off to Lowe's we went picked up some of that "ORGANOSIDE" (spelling) all natural, let's see . neighbor uses 7-spray, but I want to eat what we grow no grow what we eat, so we are trying it today after spraying good last nite, keep your fingers crossed for us, we will give you an update in the next couple of days, Maggie, Jake & Guilt Trip

[Danaus29]

Some people claim (quite mistakenly) that hornworms will not eat tomato fruit. But yes they do and they don't always finish the ones they start.

Do you have a digital camera or some way to take pictures of your worms? Some caterpillars that feed on corn leaves are neutral bugs, they don't damage the crops but they don't help you by eating bad bugs.

[Mid Tn Mama]

If you see them with parasitic wasp eggs on them, let them be. That is a predator to them that you want to encourage. They will solve your problem when they hatch!

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/hornworm.html

[Ernie]

Braconid wasps are like something out of a horror movie, but I root for them. They show up about 3-4 weeks after you spot your first hornworm.

Put those kids to work picking off hornworms. My 8 year old can spot them when nobody else can. I don't get it. Like he has eyes made especially for finding those things. I can touch every leaf and every limb of a plant and he'll come along 3 seconds later and point out the largest, ugliest hornworm on it that I'd missed. Really strange considering he can't seem to see his clothes laying on the floor and will walk over the top of them for days.

Chickens also LOVE hornworms. Mine make a beeline out for the gardens to see what's there to eat. A few pecks off my broccoli leaves or the occasional bite taken out of a tomato is a small price to pay for such a thorough insect cleaning. Too bad the beneficials taste as good as the bad bugs.

[Paquebot]

One should really set aside a few volunteer tomato plants just for those worms. Believe it or not, some people do! They become a beautiful and useful sphinx moth whose main purpose is as a natural pollinator, no less important than a honeybee. I haven't seen either the worm or moth in 25-30 years.

Martin

[Ravenlost]

I haven't seen a single hornworm on my tomato plants this year. Seems like I only have them bad every other year.

BTW...my chickens love them.

[ceresone]

My chickens think they come from another planet--toss them a horn worm--and they run. Guess they dont relish green blood.

[tab]

I have wondered what those ugly things turn into! I hate them! One more critter I'll feel
guilty about getting rid of! Maybe if you feed it in the coffee can it will turn into the moth while you watch. Good science project for a five year old (adult too!).
My chickens devastate the garden if I let them near it. I have heard that guines (sp?) don't and that banties aren't too bad.