With tomato plants come hornworms. I've got both kinds, tomato hornworm and the tobacco hornworm. There are also other worms that look very similar but lack the horn. These worms apparently become huge moths - the size of hummingbirds. I don't care much for moths and I certainly don't care much for worms that decimate my plants!
Note: All pictures are clickable for biggy sized worms :)
This first specimen is a tomato hornworm - a huge one at that. I believe this is nearly full grown:
Note the horn, spots, and different sets of legs. Note also the size of the thing compared to my fingers! Granted I have long, piano fingers. ANYWHO... I hate to admit it, but at this size, this guy is actually kind of cute. I can't believe how bright, almost neon his color is. Reminds me of Heimlich from "A Bug's Life."
Now this one is a tobacco hornworm:
NOT AS CUTE AS THE PREVIOUS, in my opinion. He's slightly more offensive to the eyes - lackluster color, hairy, a more wrinkled appearance overall. For comparison, here they are together:
And a final picture of all the worms I found that day, different sizes:
Did you find them? I believe there are 5. I suppose I will conclude with some tips :)
Finding
Search for them when the sun isn't very strong, so either in the morning or in the late afternoon/early evening is best. These guys are delicate and will most likely be on the underside of leaves. The huge ones don't have much of a choice though and tend to hang out wherever.
Hornworms are not the easiest to spot. They are wholly defenseless and therefore blend in nearly perfectly with the plant, so look for them while doing some maintenance (pruning, harvesting, pinching off suckers, etc).
POO IS THE CLUE Their feces look like very dark (brown to black) pebbles, from sand sized to pea sized, depending on the worm. Where there are feces, there are worms, and one worm can make a LOT of feces.
Birds can spot these guys very easily. If you can attract birds to your garden they can help a lot with infestation. Bright flowers, bird seed, and bird baths may be pretty and useful to add to your garden.
Handling
The huge guys have a strong grip and make a strange clicking noise with their mouths when angry/threatened. The tiny guys I pick off with my hands or scrape them gently with scissors or a stick,. The larger ones I remove by cutting the entire leaf or stem. More than likely the leaf has been eaten enough to where it is far too damaged to keep on the plant anyhow.
Disposal
No matter my disgust, they are a living creature and I try to get rid of them in the most humane way possible. I have a tank with frogs and newts so the smaller ones I feed to them. The larger ones are too big for the amphibians to eat (but the frogs do try), so I put them in the bird feeder and let the birds have at them. Otherwise, soapy water will drown them, as will cutting the heads off with sharp scissors (don't ask me how I know about that, and no, I was not the one that did it, and believe me... it was not out of sadistic joy, but for important purposes, but that is another blog).
Prevention
The larva will hide in your soil to hibernate for winter, so till the soil well after harvest and again before new planting. This should kill most of them. Your garden store will carry lady bugs and other beneficial insects which will eat the eggs. Once the worms hatch, hand picking and insecticides are the only way to deal with them. I prefer to stay away from insecticides but there are some natural types that should work.
If your plants are growing healthy and strong then the worms shouldn't do too much damage, but it is still best to control them. Good luck on the worm hunt!
