Horn worms!!

[daphne]

Has anyone experienced these creatures?? We've found 4 (!!) of them on our tomatoes - they did some *serious* damage before we caught them. Personally, I think they're pretty hideous & want to get rid of them! Does anyone know where they come from & how to get rid of them w/o pesticides? We're trying to remain organic...

Thank you!
Jessica

[Smillow]

We had these a few years back. Are they not the most horrifyingly grotesque things?

The best organic solution is to pick them off - I could barely bring myself to do this even with gloves on. If my DH was home I would call for him to come get them.

They are VERY hard to spot because they are the exact color of the plant so I followed the droppings. They have probably laid eggs on the plant so you might start finding tiny ones. Check a couple of times a day & I think you should be able to control them that way.

Good luck!

[daphne]

I've been checking diligently. Luckily, haven't seen any since the last pair. I couldn't bear the thought of touching them, so broke off the whole branch (!!!)
Thanks for your reply!

[solongtogo]

Horn worms are actually pretty cool, but they'll destroy your tomato plants so you'll need to use a pesticide on them. And don't be decieved, they don't do anything with that horn on their butt, so if you do touch them, they won't jab you with it. Hornworms turn into big ass moths called gypsy moths and that only takes about a month or so if they have lots of tomatos to munch on...

(I took entomology in college :))

[Witty Username]

(I took entomology in college :))

LOL - I thought that sounded very (CSI) Grissom-like. ;)