These yucky green worms have been eating away at our tomato plants. I got them under control in the big garden but had not been paying attention to the small "eyeball" garden. I noticed that the plant looked shorter and went over to take a closer look. Well here is why. These worms can eat a great deal overnight, leaving behind little black grenades as one gardening site called it, (worm poo) on the leaves and on the ground. A tell tell sign that you have a big problem.
ICKY!
You get up one bright and shining morning and decide to go out and pick some fresh tomatos... only to find this horrific sight: Your formerly beautiful tomato plants have been ravished by giant, four inch long worms. This bad dream can be a reality in many parts of North America. The menacing creature -- the Tomato Hornworm.
ReplyDeleteAt four inches long, Tomato Hornworms are large, fat, and green worms with five pairs of prolegs and have a distinctive 'horn' on their rear. Hornworms are known to cause extensive damage to tomato plants, although it won't shy away from taking big bites out of your pepper, eggplant, potato plants and occasionally green fruit as well. They eat the leaves of the plant and may nibble on green unripe fruit but they typically won't burrow and seldom bite ripening fruit. Hornworms are one of the largest caterpillars in America and are impressive in size and bulk. The only thing more impressive than their size is their appetite--hornworm can make quick work of your plants overnight.
Eliminating this Pest from your Garden
- White Cocoons = Don't Kill! Leave the hornworm where it is. It is most likely fairly developed and already done most of the damage it can. The white sacks attached to the worm are Wasp which will soon emerge to hunt down and kill other hornworms. This is Yahweh's natural biological "insecticide".
- Till your soil. Before you plant your tomatoes rototill your garden soil as this will kill the eggs that were laid in the soil in the winter months. This will prevent moths from emerging in your soil and immediately assaulting your garden.
- Pick them off. Remove them with your hands or a stick. If they lack white cocoons you can cut them in half with garden shears, drowned in a bucket of water, squished, or fed to the birds.
- Chickens. Some gardeners have reported that bantam chickens will hunt for the worms and remove them from your plants.
- Natural bug repellants. Some have reported that red pepper (dust or liquid) can deter hornworms; others have reported that a mixture of water, vegetable oil, and liquid ivory soap sprayed onto your plants may help make your plants unsatisfying to tomato worms.
- Insecticides. Your garden can be made Hornworms-resistant by the use of chemicals.