ACK! It's the evil Hornworm! Had them last year. They will destroy your whole crop very quickly. Find them and kill them NOW!
{{gwi:1336038}}

Yep - that is classic hornworm damage. No doubt about it. He is there somewhere unless a bird already got him. ;)

Dave

I searched through the pics you posted but couldn't find the little bugger. lol (where's Waldo) Anyway, you will find them on the underside of the stems of leaves normally. They are easier to find if you spray the plants with water first. The water makes them thrash about. They look dangerous but it is a phony display. Pick them off and squish them. You need to get them quickly however because they really can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

Just came back from town, and another plant was chomped! You are kidding about doing damage in such a short amount of time. Holy cow! I'm off on a worm hunting mission...

RTG

That worm will be EXACTLY the same color as your tomato stems, so it's very easy to overlook them, big as they are. Look for its poop, or frass, and you'll know it has at one time been right above it and still might be.

Squonk

That's a great hornworm picture!

Here is a link that might be useful: Signs of Hornworms

It is a hornworm. One destroyed my basil plant overnight. I spent 4 days and nights looking for the bugger to no avail. Looked under every leaf. Finally gave plant a shake and it fell to the ground. It was a baby hornworm about 1/4 inch long but did so much damage.

Something also was eating my squash so I sprayed with BT and seems to have worked.

I searched and searched and could not find any. I broke down and sprayed with Sevin earlier, before I had the hornworm diagnosis. I really, really didn't want to do that, but it's done. I don't know if that will help or not, but the bottle does say that it kills tomato hornworms.

I will spray them down in the morning and see if I can find any wriggling around. They have chomped on every plant that I have, and at this rate, my entire crop will be gone in a few days. :(

I did a little reading on these bad boys, and I am sure many of you already know, they are the caterpillar stage of the hummingbird moth. I wonder if a bug zapper outside would at least attract and potentially kill the moths to help control the population from leaving their larvae around,which end up as caterpillars on my plants....or would the light just attract them more and cause an even bigger problem?

What do those of you with large property and many plants do to control these? I can't imagine that daily inspections would be practical for you.

Next time, use BT. It's very narrow spectrum. BT var Kurstaki (aka "Thuricide") only kills Lepidoptera -- i.e., butterflies, moths, and caterpillars.

It's not an instant kill, but usually good enough. Also, they stop eating before they die.

What do those of you with large property and many plants do to control these?

First you make a note of the date on your gardening calendar so you'll know when to start looking for them next year (about a week ago ;). Next year at that time spray or dust with BT and then watch the plants.

Daily plant patrol even with dozens and dozens of plants isn't too bad assuming you have the time. Especially once you know what to look for. Very early AM before the sun hits the plants you'll find the very young small ones out near the tips of the top branches. You can see them because the tip of the branch will be drooping a bit, moving stiffly in the breeze due to his weight. Also look for the frass and follow the trail up the plant - always up - till you see him.

Once the sun hits the plants he rolls under the leaves and clings to the stems out of the light.

Note the pics of hornworms with the white egg cases stuck to their backs. Do NOT kill those worms as they are already dead but just don't know it yet. Let the parasitic wasps eating them from the inside out do it and hatch so you will have more of the beneficial wasps in the future.

Dave

Does anyone know if it is true that marigolds keep these suckers away? I am assuming the smell of flowers repels the moth, so it doesn't lay eggs in the area... it that how it works? I was wondering if the plants need to be very close to the tomatoes for this to work, and whether or not keeping the marigolds in a pot near the tomatoes would do the trick.

Does anyone know if it is true that marigolds keep these suckers away?

No, it is just another of the many companion planting myths IMO. We have marigolds planted all over the place as we both love them but the hornworms will still show up here in another 10 to 14 days just as they always do.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! I went searching this morning, but it was a bit later than I intended to get out there and the sun was out. No sign of them, though I did blast each plant with the hose to see if that would help.

I am going to go back out tonight with a flashlight and see if I can find them...assuming I don't enjoy too much wine at this afternoon's barbecue. ;)

This sure is quite the learning experience! Thanks for your help.

:o)

OK, despite the wine consumption, I searched the plants thoroughly this evening for worms, and there was nothing. Is it possible that something else is doing this? We spent an hour searching these plants, and my boyfriend has done this before, and neither of us could find any evidence of hornworms. No frass...nothing!

Any thoughts on other possibilities, or did the Sevin perhaps kill them and now they are gone?

Thanks!

Anymore plants chomped? I hope not. Hopefully the Seven application got them.
I hope I don't get attacked this year. Last year's lesson was to check my plants twice a day. Once a day isn't enough, they can do too much damage between once a day inspections.

...neither of us could find any evidence of hornworms. No frass...nothing! Any thoughts on other possibilities, or did the Sevin perhaps kill them and now they are gone?

Sevin works quickly, so if the hornworm got hit, it's likely no longer on the plant. Blasting each plant with the hose would have washed the frass off the leaves as well. So there might not be anything left to find by now.

Another possibility is that the hornworm reached its full size and dropped off the plant of its own accord to pupate underground. But you might want to check with your local UC Cooperative Extension about the timing for that, because even in CA I think it's a little early in the season for them to be that far along.

Do keep an eye out for any new damage, just in case.

Any other possibility? No, that is hornworm damage - classic. But likely either a bird already got it as I mentioned or the Sevin did.

If he had still been there after this long you'd have a completely stripped plant and he would be real obvious or would have moved over to any nearby touching plant. They prefer new young foliage to eat. ;)

Trim off the damaged areas of the plant so you will be quickly able to see any new damage. Others will likely be along.

One has to develop "an eye" for hornworm hunting but once you find one it is much easier and pruning shears or squishing is MUCH more satisfactory and effective than using Sevin.

Dave

I searched again this am and this evening with a flashlight, and no sign. So as you said, Dave- either a bird got them or the Sevin did.

Every single plant was chomped to varying degrees, some with mild damage, others look like they have been blasted with a shotgun. And I was just about to post proud pics of my super happy plants!

Do plants that lose a significant amount of foliage come back and produce well?

I am prepared now, so there will be no more "decimation by hornworm" on my watch! :)

Many thanks to all that helped.