Kelly - BT is the answer. It is specifically designed to kill leaf-chewing caterpillars. With a good application on the plants, hell on earth will be created for them. I love it! Hehe

EG

It will be hard to do but if any of the hornworms have what looks like white rice sticking on them, let them live. The white rice is the eggs of a parasitic wasp that will kill the hornworm. I did not see any hornworms last year but did move the tomatoes to a new location. I hope the wasps prevented the hornworms from laying eggs. Good luck.

Those things are huge and tenacious, aren't they? I had about 4-5 of them this year, but haven't seen any since. I was totally shocked at how large they were.

I bought some BT today. I have not seen any hornworms with the wasp sacks on them however I did notice some wasps in and around the tomato plants today so that's a good sign. I've been trying to be as organic as possible but BT looks like a pretty safe option.

Try interplanting basil and marigolds with your tomatoes. Since i've been doing that I haven't had a single hornworm.

The white rice is the eggs of a parasitic wasp . . . .

Wrong. The braconid wasp uses an ovipositor to place eggs inside the hornworm. The "white rice" are pupa cases which appear after the immature wasps emerge from the worm.

flatlander - my basil and marigolds couldn't be any closer to that tomato plant. Perhaps they warded off some pests but not hornworms!