Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the garden
yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my beautiful
tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes. Got to
looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there were
horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they were
hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever
seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done for the
season? Or will they come back and produce?

--
Lisa

"Lisa" writes:

Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the
garden yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK).
Well, my beautiful tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No
leaves. No tomatoes. Got to looking closely to see what the heck
happened to my plants and there were horrible green horned
caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they were hornworms.
Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever seen.
Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done
for the season? Or will they come back and produce?

It's hard to say. The branches that were eaten back probably won't
grow again, but tomato plants usually have a lot more foliage than
they need, especially if you don't prune them like some people do.
I've seen some very shorn tomato plants produce quite a few tomatoes.

The best defense against tomato worms is to check your plants every
day. The worms themselves can be hard to spot, but the damage usually
stands out quickly. Also, if you happen to see a worm with a bunch of
white things sticking out from his body, those are the eggs of some
sort of wasp. Don't kill that worm; the eggs will hatch soon and the
wasp larvae will eat the worm, which is the sort of thing you want to
encourage.


--
Aaron

On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 23:27:13 GMT, "Lisa"
wrote:

Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the garden
yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my beautiful
tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes. Got to
looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there were
horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they were
hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever
seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done for the
season? Or will they come back and produce?


Hungry little buggers, aren't they? I sure hope that what you sprayed
was insecticidal soap (even though it would do no good on a hornworm)
rather than herbicidal. (both exist) Depending on where you are
(length of season), the plants will likely come back and bear. You
must have had them for a while, as it takes a week or more of eating
for them to get finger sized. Odd that they got the fruit. Mine
usually eat nothing but leaves and young stems. Of course, the
missing foliage eventually ruins the fruit, too.

Make sure you check out any other tomato relatives (solanacea) like
capsicums, tomatillo, and eggplant. They will do a job on these as
well.

my parents used to gather the hornworms and when they had a cupfull
they put them in a blender and then sprayed the concoction back over
the infected plants. it seemed to take care of the problem for the
season and no chemicals were used.

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 09:25:34 -0500, B.Server wrote:

"On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 23:27:13 GMT, "Lisa"
"wrote:
"
"Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the
garden
"yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my
beautiful
"tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes.
Got to
"looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there
were
"horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered
they were
"hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I
have ever
"seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then
sprayed
"herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done
for the
"season? Or will they come back and produce?
"
"
"Hungry little buggers, aren't they? I sure hope that what you
sprayed
"was insecticidal soap (even though it would do no good on a hornworm)
"rather than herbicidal. (both exist) Depending on where you are
"(length of season), the plants will likely come back and bear. You
"must have had them for a while, as it takes a week or more of eating
"for them to get finger sized. Odd that they got the fruit. Mine
"usually eat nothing but leaves and young stems. Of course, the
"missing foliage eventually ruins the fruit, too.
"
"Make sure you check out any other tomato relatives (solanacea) like
"capsicums, tomatillo, and eggplant. They will do a job on these as
"well.

-


To Explain Oneself Is A Sign Of Weakness!

Can I just say "Ewww". LOL -- It was all I could do to pull the little
things off. I couldn't imagine actually blending them in my kitchen.

Lisa


"yar" wrote in message
...
my parents used to gather the hornworms and when they had a cupfull
they put them in a blender and then sprayed the concoction back over
the infected plants. it seemed to take care of the problem for the
season and no chemicals were used.

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 09:25:34 -0500, B.Server wrote:

"On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 23:27:13 GMT, "Lisa"
"wrote:
"
"Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the
garden
"yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my
beautiful
"tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes.
Got to
"looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there
were
"horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered
they were
"hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I
have ever
"seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then
sprayed
"herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done
for the
"season? Or will they come back and produce?
"
"
"Hungry little buggers, aren't they? I sure hope that what you
sprayed
"was insecticidal soap (even though it would do no good on a hornworm)
"rather than herbicidal. (both exist) Depending on where you are
"(length of season), the plants will likely come back and bear. You
"must have had them for a while, as it takes a week or more of eating
"for them to get finger sized. Odd that they got the fruit. Mine
"usually eat nothing but leaves and young stems. Of course, the
"missing foliage eventually ruins the fruit, too.
"
"Make sure you check out any other tomato relatives (solanacea) like
"capsicums, tomatillo, and eggplant. They will do a job on these as
"well.

-


To Explain Oneself Is A Sign Of Weakness!

I'm here in Southeast TX -- Zone 9. Hopefully they'll be okay. I read that
about the wasps, but I haven't seen any eggs on any of the ones we've pulled
off.

Lisa


"Aaron Baugher" wrote in message
...
"Lisa" writes:

Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the
garden yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK).
Well, my beautiful tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No
leaves. No tomatoes. Got to looking closely to see what the heck
happened to my plants and there were horrible green horned
caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they were hornworms.
Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever seen.
Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done
for the season? Or will they come back and produce?

It's hard to say. The branches that were eaten back probably won't
grow again, but tomato plants usually have a lot more foliage than
they need, especially if you don't prune them like some people do.
I've seen some very shorn tomato plants produce quite a few tomatoes.

The best defense against tomato worms is to check your plants every
day. The worms themselves can be hard to spot, but the damage usually
stands out quickly. Also, if you happen to see a worm with a bunch of
white things sticking out from his body, those are the eggs of some
sort of wasp. Don't kill that worm; the eggs will hatch soon and the
wasp larvae will eat the worm, which is the sort of thing you want to
encourage.


--
Aaron

Yep -- insecticidal soap. Got mixed up. They ate the undersides of most of
the green tomatoes, but on the plus side -- I've got lots of flowers on the
stems they didn't manage to scarf down. We must have pulled off at least
10-15 of the things on about 4 plants. It was horrible. LOL -- I almost
cried.

Lisa


B.Server wrote in message
...
On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 23:27:13 GMT, "Lisa"
wrote:

Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the garden
yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my
beautiful
tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes. Got
to
looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there were
horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they
were
hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have
ever
seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done for
the
season? Or will they come back and produce?


Hungry little buggers, aren't they? I sure hope that what you sprayed
was insecticidal soap (even though it would do no good on a hornworm)
rather than herbicidal. (both exist) Depending on where you are
(length of season), the plants will likely come back and bear. You
must have had them for a while, as it takes a week or more of eating
for them to get finger sized. Odd that they got the fruit. Mine
usually eat nothing but leaves and young stems. Of course, the
missing foliage eventually ruins the fruit, too.

Make sure you check out any other tomato relatives (solanacea) like
capsicums, tomatillo, and eggplant. They will do a job on these as
well.

Aaron Baugher writes:

Aaron "Lisa" writes:
Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the
garden yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK).
Well, my beautiful tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No
leaves. No tomatoes. Got to looking closely to see what the heck
happened to my plants and there were horrible green horned
caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they were hornworms.
Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever seen.
Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done
for the season? Or will they come back and produce?

Aaron It's hard to say. The branches that were eaten back probably won't
Aaron grow again, but tomato plants usually have a lot more foliage than
Aaron they need, especially if you don't prune them like some people do.
Aaron I've seen some very shorn tomato plants produce quite a few tomatoes.

Aaron The best defense against tomato worms is to check your plants every
Aaron day. The worms themselves can be hard to spot, but the damage usually
Aaron stands out quickly. Also, if you happen to see a worm with a bunch of
Aaron white things sticking out from his body, those are the eggs of some
Aaron sort of wasp. Don't kill that worm; the eggs will hatch soon and the
Aaron wasp larvae will eat the worm, which is the sort of thing you want to
Aaron encourage.

I have found Bt very effective against all forms of
caterpillars. The hornworms are very hard to find in
18 large plants, and usually I only find them by looking
for extensive damage.

I encountered my first hornworms when growing tomatoes in
pots on a 17th floor balcony in NYC.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in rec.gardens.edible...)

On 03 Jul 2003 09:41:17 -0400,
wrote:


I have found Bt very effective against all forms of
caterpillars. The hornworms are very hard to find in
18 large plants, and usually I only find them by looking
for extensive damage.

I encountered my first hornworms when growing tomatoes in
pots on a 17th floor balcony in NYC.

I guess I lead a charmed life in this regard looks around
nervously, and taps on wood.

So far, I've grown tomatoes in Northern NJ, Delaware,
Southern NJ, and now northern PA - I've never seen a
hornworm or had any damage from them. This is a total of
more than 25 years of tomato-growing.

taps on wood again, crosses fingers

Long may it continue!

Pat
In one of the colder areas of Zone 5

They should come back with some weekly liquid fertilizer. The hornworms are
just coming out in my tomatoes too. I found several "droppings" and leaves
and tomatoes chewed off. It's been raining since yesterday (remnants of
Tropical Storm Bill), so this morning we had a dry spell between some more
nasty looking dark clouds. Well, I went out and dusted all my tomatoes and
peppers with Bt Powder or Dipel Dust (same thing). It is a biological
(organic) that targets caterpillars and chewing larvae (hornworms). Within
24 hrs. I should see dangling caterpillars hanging from the branches. I'll
probably re-apply this weekend, as I'm sure the rain will wash some away.
I'm just hoping to get round 1 of them killed off.

Good luck.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"Lisa" wrote in message
. ..
Hey all -- was gone for the weekend and went to take a look at the garden
yesterday (which up until this weekend was doing A-OK). Well, my
beautiful
tomato plants were all branches and limbs. No leaves. No tomatoes. Got
to
looking closely to see what the heck happened to my plants and there were
horrible green horned caterpillars. Looked them up and discovered they
were
hornworms. Some of the biggest, fattest, ugliest caterpillars I have ever
seen. Peeled off and destroyed as many as we could find and then sprayed
herbicidal soap on what was left. Are my plants ruined? Am I done for
the
season? Or will they come back and produce?

--
Lisa

Apalled at finding my first hornworm, I went to the kitchen to fetch tongs
to remove the creature. It held on so tight to the branch I ended up
tearing it in two. They must be alien, green inside as well! YUK!
But putting them in a blender? iiiieeeccck~!
Roz
az usa

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:00:45 GMT, "Lisa"
wrote:

Yep -- insecticidal soap. Got mixed up. They ate the undersides of most of
the green tomatoes, but on the plus side -- I've got lots of flowers on the
stems they didn't manage to scarf down. We must have pulled off at least
10-15 of the things on about 4 plants. It was horrible. LOL -- I almost
cried.

Lisa

I see you have since posted that you are in SE Texas, so I am guessing
that you will have a tomato growing season until at least the end of
November. Plenty of time for the plants to recover. We have had cool
enough nights here in Austin that some of our tomatos are still
setting fruit even though they usually give up toward the end of June.
I often grow new plants and set them out during the first 2 weeks of
July for fall tomatos.

Thankfully, some of my leaves are already starting to grow back on the bare
stems. Of course, now I'm paranoid and have been checking my plants twice a
day. LOL. Haven't seen any more of those nasty boogers. I've planted 1/2
and 1/2 det/indet varieties, so I've still got lots and lots of flowers and
fruits. This is a new garden area (square foot beds) and I don't have my
soil exactly right, but the 'maters were the best thing growing.

I'm about 30 miles south of Houston. How cool is it getting there at night?
We're still in the mid to upper 70's at night, so we don't get a chance to
cool down much at all. This heat wave has totally destroyed my attempt at
lettuce. What didn't wilt, scorched and burned.




B.Server wrote in message
...
On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:00:45 GMT, "Lisa"
wrote:

Yep -- insecticidal soap. Got mixed up. They ate the undersides of most
of
the green tomatoes, but on the plus side -- I've got lots of flowers on
the
stems they didn't manage to scarf down. We must have pulled off at least
10-15 of the things on about 4 plants. It was horrible. LOL -- I almost
cried.

Lisa

I see you have since posted that you are in SE Texas, so I am guessing
that you will have a tomato growing season until at least the end of
November. Plenty of time for the plants to recover. We have had cool
enough nights here in Austin that some of our tomatos are still
setting fruit even though they usually give up toward the end of June.
I often grow new plants and set them out during the first 2 weeks of
July for fall tomatos.

Hi Roz, I had a tomato plant with about half dozen of these monsters and
decided to see if my chickens would eat them. I really thought they'd taste
too nasty! But when I tossed them to my little PeepPeep she shook them and
shook them and them gobbled them down! What a nice surprize!
Eileen

wrote:

Apalled at finding my first hornworm, I went to the kitchen to fetch tongs
to remove the creature. It held on so tight to the branch I ended up
tearing it in two. They must be alien, green inside as well! YUK!
But putting them in a blender? iiiieeeccck~!
Roz
az usa

Eileen
One of the chicks found one this a.m. Don't know how he ended up in the
chicken yard, but he certainly regretted it. They played keep-away with it
for a while till Blanche, Jr. hid and gobbled. Such a feast.
I havent' seen any on my maters this year. Odd.
Roz
az usa