Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.


Have you actually seen hornworms? If so, the best way to get rid of them is
just to pick them off. Any deer footprints in the garden? They also like to
eat flowers and fresh leaf growth.

Google confirms what I thought: tomato hormworms are the caterpillars of a
large and beautiful moth. They do not winter in the soil. Google articles
also say that hornworms are large and can be easily picked off. I suspect
that you do not have hormworms at all. Do you see large caterpillars with
horns???


"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

They are definitely NOT hard to spot. They're the size of an adult's thumb
sometimes! The first time I saw one, I was working in the garden and (before
playing in a band wrecked my ears), I heard something chewing. I followed
the sound and found this monster. Pretty impressive, though. Like a garden
pest created by Disney. :-)

"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in message
...
Google confirms what I thought: tomato hormworms are the caterpillars of
a
large and beautiful moth. They do not winter in the soil. Google articles
also say that hornworms are large and can be easily picked off. I suspect
that you do not have hormworms at all. Do you see large caterpillars with
horns???


"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

This year my tomatoes were eaten by hornworms. I identified mine kind
as actually tobacco hornworms. They look very similar, and act the
same. They strip vegetation QUICKLY and entire portions of leaf and
blossom would be gone, leaving only bare vine stem. I think
handpicking is not too effective because they are very well
camouflaged in the vegetation. I can find the large ones because they
get very big (almost as big as my thumb), and are sometimes still
close to the damaged area. But they do move on and may not still be in
the area. I picked off a whole water bottle full of them. Sometimes I
could find them because of their feces on a leaf are easy to see and
then look above to locate them.

But it didn't work because I couldn't find all the small ones (they
start off tiny). I handpicked worms and then in one or two days the
little ones gorged themselves on leaves and blossoms until they were
big enough to see. My plants were not going to survive at this rate.

I bought some BT and sprayed the plants under and above the leaves.
All the worms have to do is eat one mouthful of the bacteria and it
shuts down their gut. They quit eating immediately and a few days
later died. I could see them once they turned black. It only took one
spray to kill them all and they have not come back.

BT is a bacteria that kills only caterpillars that ingest it. It
doesn't kill beetles like ladybugs or spiders or pets. And I think it
doesn't hurt me, although I did wash the fruit that was already set.

The only problem is that a pint for $12 was the smallest amount I
could purchase and it only took 2 tablespoons of the concentrate to
make enough to spray all my plants. Anyone need an almost full bottle
of BT?




On 12 Aug 2006 18:44:45 -0700, "cathych"
wrote:

Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

In article . com,
says...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.


Instead of DE sprinkle the plants with B.T....will only effect the
caterpillars, though inspection and removing them is quicker. think of
them as a green "where's Waldo" puzzle
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

On 12 Aug 2006 18:44:45 -0700, "cathych"
wrote:

Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.


We get them every year, although not that many. Because of their
size it is easy to spot them and pick them off. They are larvae from
a moth or butterfly which lays eggs on the plant.

I built 5 birdhouses last winter. In addition to the three we have
in the yard, all were occupied with wrens, some houses were
re-occupied. As a result there were fewer insect problems this year.

They are tiny when they are hatched, so while you're correct about
size, that is a fully mature larva.

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 04:00:20 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

They are definitely NOT hard to spot. They're the size of an adult's thumb
sometimes! The first time I saw one, I was working in the garden and (before
playing in a band wrecked my ears), I heard something chewing. I followed
the sound and found this monster. Pretty impressive, though. Like a garden
pest created by Disney. :-)

"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in message
...
Google confirms what I thought: tomato hormworms are the caterpillars of
a
large and beautiful moth. They do not winter in the soil. Google articles
also say that hornworms are large and can be easily picked off. I suspect
that you do not have hormworms at all. Do you see large caterpillars with
horns???


"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

BT will take care of the tomato worms and it works very well on cabbage
also. I put it on my cabbage after each rain and have nice clean uneaten
cabbage. If I see one tomato worm I use it on them also.

Mel & Donnie down in Bluebird Valley In the middle of beautiful down
town Yountsville. Managers of the water works.
http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/doc

http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/MelDonniesBluebird

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
news (before
playing in a band wrecked my ears),

Man oh man, me too! Sometimes my ears ring so loud I ask my wife if she can
hear it. If the kids of today only knew what they are in for.


--
J.C.

I think I've been extraordinarily lucky to have only seen them once in
30+years. Now, deer are another story. My tomatoes are in cylindrical cages.
everything outside the cages is nibbled. They eat all new leaf growth on the
sweet potatoes, as well the cantelope vines. I discreetly tried to hire a
bow hunter friend as a hit man, but he's not into doing Sopranos-style
contract work.


"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
They are tiny when they are hatched, so while you're correct about
size, that is a fully mature larva.

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 04:00:20 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

They are definitely NOT hard to spot. They're the size of an adult's thumb
sometimes! The first time I saw one, I was working in the garden and
(before
playing in a band wrecked my ears), I heard something chewing. I followed
the sound and found this monster. Pretty impressive, though. Like a garden
pest created by Disney. :-)

"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in message
...
Google confirms what I thought: tomato hormworms are the caterpillars
of
a
large and beautiful moth. They do not winter in the soil. Google
articles
also say that hornworms are large and can be easily picked off. I
suspect
that you do not have hormworms at all. Do you see large caterpillars
with
horns???


"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.

"J.C." wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
news (before
playing in a band wrecked my ears),

Man oh man, me too! Sometimes my ears ring so loud I ask my wife if she
can hear it. If the kids of today only knew what they are in for.
J.C.

Luckily, I'm not that far gone. Someone pointed me to the $12 earplugs at
this site:
www.etymotic.com

The fancy, custom fitted ones are on my shopping list, after I get the roof
replaced and a few other little financial nightmares have passed.

In article ,
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:

I think I've been extraordinarily lucky to have only seen them once in
30+years. Now, deer are another story. My tomatoes are in cylindrical cages.
everything outside the cages is nibbled. They eat all new leaf growth on the
sweet potatoes, as well the cantelope vines. I discreetly tried to hire a
bow hunter friend as a hit man, but he's not into doing Sopranos-style
contract work.

I guess you folks know sweet potatoe leaves are edible. I think of
them as low growing malabar spinach.

Bill

--
S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.

"William Wagner" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:

I think I've been extraordinarily lucky to have only seen them once in
30+years. Now, deer are another story. My tomatoes are in cylindrical
cages.
everything outside the cages is nibbled. They eat all new leaf growth on
the
sweet potatoes, as well the cantelope vines. I discreetly tried to hire a
bow hunter friend as a hit man, but he's not into doing Sopranos-style
contract work.

I guess you folks know sweet potatoe leaves are edible. I think of
them as low growing malabar spinach.

Bill

Actually, I didn't know that. But, the deer do.

I hope no one feels this is out of place in this group. Here's a link to
two lovely poems written about hornworms by Stanley Kunitz, who died this
past May at the age of 100. He was a pulitzer prize winner and was twice
the US poet laureate, and he was an avid gardener. The link also shows
pictures of a hornworms in two phases: one as is being discussed in this
thread, and the other toward the end of its life. (There's also a photo of
the poet.) The poems are Hornworm: A Summer Reverie, and Hornworm: An
Autumn Lamentation.
http://p216.ezboard.com/fthearcadian...ID=966. topic

Enjoy, helco



"cathych" wrote in message
ups.com...
Every year I am beseiged by tomato hornworms. This year I faithfully
used diamotateous earth, thinking that of course, this would eradicate
the problem. Well, several days ago, my cherry tomatoes, my peppers,
(all different kinds), as well as my larger tomatoes were full of
blooms, really loving the hot rainy weather. Today I went out & checked
for any developing cucumbers, & guess what? All of the blooms had been
EATEN entirely, there is not a single one of them left. How can I get
rid of these things once & for all? I have been changing out my potting
soil entirely each growing season, thinking that this might have been
the problem, but apparently they are living somewhere.