You can spray BT for caterpillars.

That's a tomato hornworm. Those things eat so much and so fast. Make sure you find them all and pick them off!

Yuck

I think Garden Safe is the brand I use. Bought it at Lowes.

There were 4 of them and they got 2 of my tomatoes. And lots of leaves.

They are the most common tomato pest there is and they will show up every year around this time so plant patrol is very important. Link below tells you all about them.

In most cases the plant will replace most of the damage with new growth.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Hornworms

As I wrote in another message thread, you can often HEAR the tomato hornworms as they munch on your tomato plants. Go out when it is relatively quiet and just sit there. After a while you will probably hear a relatively low pitched, "Crunch . . . crunch . . . crunch." Follow it to its source and find the hornworm.

Most pesticides will also kill them, and I would do that in a bad infestation, but if there aren't veritable armies of them, I would try to find and remove each of them individually.

Yeah, those things are brutal. The "droppings" they leave behind are usually much bigger than other caterpillars, I've noticed. That's how I always tell if I've got them!

At that size/age, Bt is too little, too late. The stuff only works on half-grown or younger caterpillars.

So handpick, snip in half or drown in soapy water.

I called the local garden store and asked about BT and they had no clue but said that they have something called captain jacks would this works?

Just picked 3 more off they were smaller then the first ones. They sure are nasty things thank god for my little boy.. i find them he picks them off. Do they bite or sting? He swares that one of them bite/stung him.

The stinger thing is just for looks. They are just regular caterpillars with a pointy decoration.

Have no idea what Captain jack's may be or if it would work. Bt (bacillus thurengesis) is sold under the brand names Dipel and Thuricide.

How many plants to you have to deal with? If less than 15-20 then you can easily control them by hand picking and any thing else you use besides Bt will just kill good guys.

No they do not bite or sting. Take pruning shears or scissors to the garden and just cut them in half if you don't want to touch them.

Dave

Captain Jack's contains spinosad, which is a newer organic
pesticide and would work just fine on the hornworms.
From my limited reading, it is also effective on stink bugs, which
can also do some damage to tomato fruits.

I prefer the satisfaction of hand picking and squishing with my shoe! :) But a more substantial infestation may require the
methods suggested above.

Lee

Yuk! Slugs around here get even bigger than that. They can easily eat a small seedling in one night but they are not interested in mature stuff that much.
So doe this worm turn into a butterfly?

This worm turns into a relatively large, brown moth. It isn't pretty. It is just a moth. Similar in size and appearance to some hawk moths

Usually when I see a Tomato Hornworm, there are rows of white eggs on its back. Left there by a predatory wasp. Sounds great except that you are now responsible for the brood of young wasps. You have to carefully remove the worm from your tomato plant because of what it might eat before the eggs hatch and the larva dig in for lunch.

Problem is where do you put it? Does it need to continue eating tomato for the wasps to survive?

The Wasp larvae probably need a live hornworm, or at least one that starts out alive when they hatch, in order for them to survive. If you are into 'Natural' pest control, I would take the hornworm and put it in a box and feed it tomato leaves and stems every day, and even the occasional green tomato. Especially any that might have blossom end rot. Then, when the wasp larvae hatch, and devour the hornworm from the inside out, they will be around in your garden area to hopefully help catch future hornworms.

Or you can just ignore it and hope you catch all your hornworms in the future. Keep in mind that the wasps probably kill the hornworms relatively late, so the hornworms have already had time to do a lot of damage.

And, by the way, RE an earlier post, hornworms are ugly (or beautiful, depending on your thinking), but they are harmless to people and can't hurt or sting or bite you in any way to cause damage. Personally, I really can appreciate their beauty, but I still prefer to throw them on the ground and step on them. Might say something about my personality. I don't know.

In my garden slugs, and especially snails are far far worse. They do chew on plants, constantly, will kill plants early in the year, and they chew on tomatoes, too, especially any that split or crack or touch the ground. I put out slug and snail poison several times a year. And I step on them, too, EVERY TIME that I see one. Or I throw them against the fence and watch them crack. (But I REALLY don't think I have a personality disorder.)

I HAVE considered handling my snails in the 'French' way, especially when I see big ones. Put them in a box with some cornmeal for a few weeks. Then a little oil, cheese, garlic and Voila!

The birds love them even without all the cheese and garlic. ;)

Dave

Tobacco Hornworm?

Not that it matters, damage is the same, treatment is the same.

I may be seeing it wrong though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tobacco Hornworm Pictures

Yeah they are two different variants. Manduca sexta vs. Manduca quinquemaculata. Tomato hornworms when they are on tomatoes, tobacco hornworms when they are on tobacco. :)

Dave