Maybe you don’t really want to read about worms but . . maybe you do . . and maybe you just don’t know it. My husband had never seen a tomato hornworm so I thought maybe there was someone else out there who had not seen one and . . well, it’s my duty to share so please walk away if you don’t want to see a worm. There are pictures so . . for the squeamish . . read no farther.
Last week, I had a huge tomato I was just waiting and watching . . couldn’t wait for it to turn red. I walked out one morning and half of it was gone. It looked more like something with a mouth had munched on it than like a bird had pecked on it. Later that day I noticed some leaves were missing so I knew I had a hornworm somewhere. My neighbor was over and we found it and it was truly the biggest one I had ever seen. I guess it should
Yesterday morning I noticed leaves missing off another plant.
Tomato Leaves Missing
I knew right off what was doing it but then I saw this. Helen was so right! What goes in does come out. Oh . . wait, she was talking about chickens but I suppose all creatures are about the same in that regard.
Hornworm excrement
This is a good sized hornworm but not nearly as big as the one I found last week.
Hornworm
That’s a quarter beside him but it isn’t really giving you much perspective since it’s on an angle but that worm is big. Vince kept going on and on about it . . I wish he’d seen the huge one from earlier in the week.
They are kinda pretty but . . too bad because they can’t live on my tomato plants.
Margery says
That looks like a huge caterpillar. If you didn’t deal with it, what kind of butterfly or moth would it turn into?
Sandra Neel Hutchins says
I don’t like picking them off the plants. Sometimes they “spit”. An old pair of scissors works great in removing the pesky things. My dad always picked them off and then stepped on them. I chop them in two with the scissors.
Sandra Neel Hutchins says
The adult form of the hornworm is referred to as a sphinx moth, a hawk moth, or a hummingbird moth. They do resemble hummingbirds when they are flying around flowers, usually about dusk,
Diana in RR Texas says
See if this works-if not google tomato hornworm
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tomato+hornworm+moth&qpvt=tomato+hornworm+moth&FORM=IGRE
Kris says
When I last found some on my plants, I cut the leaf off and set it on our deck rail in the sun. The birds saw them really quickly! I is amazing what those things can eat!
Diann says
I sprinkle Sevin dust on mine to keep them away. It works. Those worms are ICKY.
Marsha B says
I hate those things, they are just plain creepy! I read somewhere that planting basil in with the tomatoes will help keep them away, but I always have a few anyway. Supposedly the moths don’t like the fragrance of basil and won’t lay their eggs on the tomato plant. I will try using Sevin dust next time.
Crystal D-G in WA says
Texas is loaded with weird things! Maybe all the WA rain keeps the bugs away from here because I haven’t seen anything like that. Our worms are ugly brown and good for fishing. 🙂
Diana in RR, TX says
Actually we had them in MN too!
Mel Meister says
I’m in Florida. They are everywhere.
Linda says
You know what they way about Texas?? Everything is bigger.
Linda says
sorry, should have said say about Texas, not way. duh
Lea says
We get these juicy little critters every year. We did a little research last year after seeing one with little white things all over it. They looked like eggs! We thought more worms! But we soon found out that if you find one with these little with eggs hanging on them you shouldn’t kill that worm because the white things are wasp eggs and they will soon hatch and kill the worm and any other other worms that are hiding in your tomato plant.
Lee says
Do the chickens like them?
JudyL says
Oh, yes . . but throw one or two worms in with 12 chickens and be ready for a hen fight! I will stick them in a jar with a screen on top and collect a few before giving them to the chickens. and if I don’t have enough to keep the chickens from fighting, I kill the worms and throw them out where birds can get them.
Helen Koenig1 says
When I lived on the farm in IL, every so often we would get hornworms on tomatoes – and I can honestly say that I do NOT like them! My dad SOMEHOW wound up with one on his neck – and broke out in a humongous welts from it – so that is one I definitely stay away from if at all possible.
HOWEVER – that does NOT mean I will let the little beasties munch down my tomatoes! No way! And I have NO hesitation picking those things OFF the tomato plant and dropping them into some sort of container to feed the birds!
(Yes – Lee, chickens LOVE them!)
AngieG9 says
I had a baby one crawl out of a tomato on my counter one day so I just squashed it with a paper towel. My biggest fear is finding half a worm in something I just took a bite of. It didn’t bother me so much when I was a kid but I think I’m getting a bit squeamish in my old age. I would rather get my protein from the meat counter or a package of beans. Of course, there’s always the option of deep frying and covering with chocolate. 🙂
Rosalie says
They are destructive little critters….I have to keep a vigilant eye out or they will really strip a plant! I haven’t seen any yet this year, but will be on the lookout!
Theresa Alsup says
My friend’s mother used to pay us a nickel for each one we found. We’d pick them off and put them into a black plastic bag, and after she checked them, we’d squash them. As an adult, I just pick them up and put them in the bird feeder. They don’t last long.
Donna says
Those things scare the life out of me. I probably use more Sevin than anyone in town to avoid having them. They are so mean looking and they rear up at you and spit. Most everything else I can deal with, but not those guys. *shivers*
Sherrill says
Hornworms gross me out SO BAD!! They are SO UGLY! When we had tomatoes in VA, the hornworms were awful. But my son took great delight in laying them in the street and running over them with his bike. Their guts went flying. NASTY! Then he made a pile, squirted on lighter fluid and lit em up. I was starting to get a little worried about him! HA
Margaret R says
When my kids were little we would pay them for every one they found. Then my hubs would put them in a coffee can with some gasoline and light it on fire. The girls thought it was awesome and would search for worms every day.
Diana says
Put marigolds around your tomatoes and it will cut down on the worms. I thought it was an old wives tale till I actually did it and it working. Another wives tale that is so true!
Sheri says
I saw one of those on our tomato plants when I was little and I still don’t think I’m over it. Ick, ick, ick!
Hilary McDaniel says
Well I’m the weird one. I LOVE hummingbird moths. They are so fun to watch at dusk when they come out. We have 30ish tomato plants so I don’t care if they eat a plant. They never seem to eat it to the point of killing the plant. We plant bronze fennel and dill for the swallowtails .
Mel Meister says
I’m trying to grow my tomatoes on my inside porch this year. For the past 9 years, the hornworms have gotten my tomatoes. There were three of us taking them off of about 10 plants and we couldn’t keep up! There were dozens of them, every day! I HATE THEM! I have no clue what to do about them except keep the plants inside.