Tomato horn worms!!! Arrrrgggg

[Dave44]

Take a flashlight out there at night...They will glow...Art

I read that a UV type light works great.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Lol.. Not sure we even have a local epaper?

When they come out with e-toilet paper, that is when I get off line.

 

[Dave44]

Ok, so I've been battling those guys for years... I tend to just look for tomato branches with no leaves and the "poo" trail to find them and squash them. My nine year old daughter likes to go on hunts for them which is good because her eyesight is much better than mine. Kindof gross when you step on one....

I had always thought mine were tobacco hornworms (which eat tomatoes too)
Manduca sexta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For some reason I'm under the impression that rotating my tomatoes to different parts of the garden each year helps keep the population down. I just read about their reproductive cycle though and I'm unclear on why that would work. BTW, I'm using raised beds, so the separation is very clear.

The tobacco hornworm just has different stripes, I gather. But the plants I am having the hardest time with is in a new bed.
I had read about moving them around. But it seems to me that it is airborne. It comes from a moth, so I believe the people saying that are hoping for it to be true.
And I put tomatoes in pots on my deck once, still had them.

 

[Dave44]

Dave, it's been a long time since I've gardened; but I seem to remember using Sevin dust on them. Please, don't do this until you have checked it out! I believe it can be used in the early growth stages; and maybe later if the fruit is washed well before using. I just don't remember. I definitely do remember the looks of those creatures. Ugly and dangerous looking! Those horns always made me shy away from them. If I saw one, I'd flick it off the leaf and then step on it.

I have seriously thought about seven dust. But my tomatoes are blooming like crazy. I hear it kills bees too?

 

[texasred777]

Hmmm. Hadn't thought about the beneficial insects, like the bees. I really don't know. The info on the can should tell you what is safe and what's not.