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Horn Worm!

Steve973

Steve973

Today I noticed that a lot of leaves disappeared on my blight-ravaged tomato plants. Yesterday they were there; today they were gone. I thought that there must be a horn worm on the plant somewhere to cause that kind of damage so quickly. The funny thing is, my tomato plants are in pots on my deck on the second floor! So after a brief inspection, I saw the not-so-little bastard hanging on a branch. How the hell did that thing find my tomato plants all the way up where they are? And how did it know where to go? Very odd.
 
Did it look like this bastard that was munching on one of my nagas earlier in the season?

IMG_3658.jpg
 
I've got three of them on my Gold Bullet Habanero plant. All three are lit up like a Xmas tree with wasp cocoons.(Once it stops raining, I'll take a pic.) Their days of doing damage are over. The wasps got them all quick as none did any damage.
 
I recently had a battle with those bastards. Ended up killing 40-60 on my hab a pequin plants. Supposedly the moth only lays one egg per plant but no.....and they come out of nowhere and hit very hard. One plant I had which was nice and bushy at almost 4 foot tall was almost stripped completely in 24 hours from 4 worms. In the end I used Sevin spray on them.

Salute', TB.
 
Steve973 said:
How the hell did that thing find my tomato plants all the way up where they are?
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The moths find them easily anywhere out doors, lay their eggs and then your plants get ravaged by the worms when they hatch. They eat a lot and grow very, very quickly.
 
Is it possible to identify the moth eggs of the horn worm BEFORE they hatch? Seems like 24 hours is all it takes to loose an entire plant if you unlucky enough to have more than 1 on your plant at a time.
 
I have seen those little eggs and always crushed them, but never knew what they were. I just thought they must be evil! Now I know. Thanks!
 
attack of the dreaded hornworm

I have killed about 50 to 60 so far in the last month. I generally check my plants a couple times a day, but did miss a few. They generally start munching toward the top of the plant. If you look for small holes in the center of the leaves, you can usually find one of younger critters on the backside of the leaf. Large sections missing from the leaves means u got a big one modifing your plant. Pruning shears is the weapon of choice for their execution. lol
 
texas_pepper_man said:
I have killed about 50 to 60 so far in the last month. I generally check my plants a couple times a day, but did miss a few. They generally start munching toward the top of the plant. If you look for small holes in the center of the leaves, you can usually find one of younger critters on the backside of the leaf. Large sections missing from the leaves means u got a big one modifing your plant. Pruning shears is the weapon of choice for their execution. lol
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thanks for the pic and tips on finding them. I had a few small holes and what seemed to be bitten pieces of a few leaves on 1 plant, but found out it was the work of a slug and a little sluggo seemed to rid the pest. I'll have to keep an eye on my plants and quickly destroy any little green eggs. I did find something similar, but they seemed to be hanging from a thread on the plant. Looks like they where green lace wing eggs after a search online.
 
texas_pepper_man said:
I have killed about 50 to 60 so far in the last month. I generally check my plants a couple times a day, but did miss a few. They generally start munching toward the top of the plant. If you look for small holes in the center of the leaves, you can usually find one of younger critters on the backside of the leaf. Large sections missing from the leaves means u got a big one modifing your plant. Pruning shears is the weapon of choice for their execution. lol
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:welcome:

I prefer to see them shredded by a flock of hungry chooks. :D
 
I burn them with extreme prejudice.

Anyone have any more tips on finding them? I have a plant under attack and I can't find the phaquer. I have pulled the plant out three times and placed it on a table and inspected the hell out of it and nothing. One time I found one playing like it was a leaf stem up towards the top, but so far all I have are a bunch of the lower leaves with half moon cut outs all over the place.
 
i get them always

i usually see the eggs on the leaves. i will squish them, if they hatched i kill them immediately. population control for those moths... hehe but they still come and lay eggs on the plants, they love citrus plants also!
 
Diablo said:
I burn them with extreme prejudice.

Anyone have any more tips on finding them? I have a plant under attack and I can't find the phaquer. I have pulled the plant out three times and placed it on a table and inspected the hell out of it and nothing. One time I found one playing like it was a leaf stem up towards the top, but so far all I have are a bunch of the lower leaves with half moon cut outs all over the place.
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I'm having the same problem. I thought my issue was gone, but just last night I noticed a few eaten leaves. Only a few, but I don't want to wait until it's more. Just can't seem to find the culprit anywhere.
 
I have literally examined every inch of some plants and found nothing. I know they can move pretty fast when they want to, so I'm assuming in the heat of the day they hide someplace. I have found them in the folds of leaves, but more often I suspect they have left the plant entirely. I saw two the other day racing across my patio. It amazed me how fast and far they traveled :shocked:
 
Spray your plants with Spinosad or BT and it will do the work for you. Both are organic and made from bacteria that work by paralyzing the worms and thus starving them to death.
 
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