Easy, No "Eewww!" Way to deal with the Disgusting Tomato Hornworm....good photos

[bvar22]

Step 1: Find the Worm

Anybody who has ever grown Tomatoes knows how difficult this can be.
The little bastards are hard to spot.
The clues are:
Foliage stripped to the bone
and
Little dark green shit pellets on the leaves.
The worm will usually be on the underside of a branch somewhere between the two.
Keep looking.
Sometimes, it helps to grasp individual branches, bend them up to check the underside, and use the process of elimination to methodically check the area.
I am still regularly amazed to discover that after I find one, I have been staring at it without seeing it for several minutes.

Ah HA!

There the little shit is!


Step 2: Cut off the Whole Branch

The area where The Worm has been eating won't recover or grow new leaves.
This is much better and cleaner than trying to pull The Worm off the branch with your hands.
Cutting off the whole branch greatly reduces the Eewww! factor.

See how Easy!

Step 3: Remove ALL the damaged foliage where The Worm has been feasting on YOUR Tomato Plants

This is actually very important.
Removing the damaged foliage makes it much easier to spot NEW worms by spotting new areas of damage. This is especially helpful if you have a lot of plants, or are too old (like me) to remember whether you have caught a worm from a particular area. If the damaged branches/leaves are removed every time a Worm is caught, finding any Hornworm damage the next day is a positive indicator of another Worm.

If a worm can't be found, go ahead and prune off the damage anyway.
That way you will be able to tell whether there is still an active worm in that area the next day.


Step 4: Tease your chickens with the prospect of a Tasty Treat

If you don't have any chickens, get some.
They will be worth it if only for the deep and satisfying pleasure of Step 5.


Step 5: Toss the little bastard to the hungry and excited chickens...

...and watch with delight as these carnivorous descendants of the Velociraptor tear that Hornworm to pieces.
YAY!
I can not think of a better fate for ANY of God's Creatures on the face of this planet.
Here the Barred Rock on the right WON the Worm Scrum and ran off with her prize.

Step 6: Go back to the Tomato Garden with hopes of finding another Hornworm so the whole spectacle can be repeated!
.
.
.
.
I'm not a Bad Person.
Hornworms make me that way.
:evilgrin:

[havocmom]

1. Ya know how some cats try to bring us fresh meat/fowl to supplement our diet?

Some cats notice we have bad hunting skills. We go out often but bring meat back seldom. So they try to help out and try to develop our kill skill.

Well, we had a cat who noticed my sister and I ate a lot of salad. He raided the neighbor's tomato patch one day. Brought us a nice branch of cherry tomatoes, along with some fat, juicy green protein supplement on that chunk of vine. He did not understand my sister's violent reaction when he jumped in the chair next to her as she ate a salad, and presented her with his more balanced meal recommendation.

Damn, that was a good cat. He used your method for worm removal, modified slightly to accommodate his lack of thumbs.

[Ernesto]

2. In the interest of science.....

I once painted a horn worm florescent orange, then tossed him over the fence about 150' away from my plants.... He was back in my plants the next day! He then got to meet my chickens.

[Warpy]

4. Most pests won't find their way back. The hornworm will.

If a neighbor's chickens (free range, all over the neighborhood) weren't around, the hornworm went into a bag or can and then into the trash.

I picked them off with tongs or leather gloves. No ick factor there, but the branch they were feeding on always died, so picking the branch off is a better idea.

[blm]

3. heheh...I understand COMPLETELY....

.

[Andy823]

5. I hate those worms!

I used to have a big problem with them, and had to pick them off by hand and squash them. My grandmother told me to plant marigolds around my tomatoes, and you know what, it really works! Now sometimes I do have one or two worms that get on my plants before the marigolds start blooming, but that is far better than what I used to have. The marigolds also seem to keep out the aphids so I use them all around my garden, and my wife uses them in her flower beds and in her rose beds.

[msongs]

6. no chickens? leave worms on sidewalk far away from plants. other birds will eat em nt

[truedelphi]

7. We had a different tomato problem -

The California deer problem.

Indications are - tomato plant leaves are stripped to the bone of the stem.

Big piles of poop.

Soft fuzzy brown creatures with white spots staring at you from under mama's belly, their imploring huge eyes saying "Love!" while you attempt to shoo Mama out of the yard.

[Fly by night]

11. Try human urine and hair, and the stinkiest deodorant bath soap you can find.

Irish Spring is one of the stinkiest. Put these around your Garden and they should help deter the deer. These have worked well for me in my guerrilla gardens for decades.

[truedelphi]

14. For now, the tomatoes are are surrounded by chicken wire.

But thank you for the tips. Maybe I'll be able to use them in other places in the yard.

[Demoiselle]

8. I love this thread. That is all.

[shireen]

9. it looks like a caterpillar

what kind of critter is it?

Nice photos. :hi:

[Fly by night]

10. All my tomato hornworms are covered with parasitic wasp cocoons.

I have raised my Garden organically for 40 years and the balance within it is awe-inspiring to see. When the hornworms first appear, they are sleek green voracious leaf-miners. But within a day or three, every hornworm I find is covered with white cocoons that are there because parasitic wasps have injected their offspring's eggs into the worms. The worms just sit there providing warm (paralyzed) food for the next generation of Garden protectors until they are dessicated and fall to the Garden floor.

Mother Nature -- you just gotta love her (and leave her alone). She'll take care of everything.

[truedelphi]

13. What a nice tale of a well balanced garden environment.

Thank you for offering it up.

[LWolf]

12. That's my favorite method.

Has been for a couple of decades, although I HAVE hand-picked them to toss, as well.

I've also, when I didn't have chickens, simply beheaded them with the pruners; messy, and not recommended, but quick and satisfying when you come across extensive damage.

When I lived in the Mojave Desert, my garden was behind the shop. A lizard spent every spring and summer in the eaves, for 3 years running. When I found a worm, I'd toss it to the bottom of the shop wall; he'd run down, grab it, gobble it, and run back up.

I've had chickens who free-ranged that would, when they saw me coming, delightedly race towards me, clucking eagerly, and follow me on my rounds through the garden. They never ate the tomatoes, but waited eagerly by each plant for what I would toss them.

I never could figure out why they didn't go for the crops. My current chickens do.

[Dover]

15. Whooooo are youuuuuu?

Am I the only one who finds them cool looking?

Love the pictures and tips. Thanks.

[newfie11]

16. If you see one with little white things attached to it

don't kill it or remove it. Those are parasites and will kill it. They will kill other hornworms.