Yep, you can count on there being more...unfortunately. Gonna Bt the plants?

Dave

I probably should hit them with Bt. I try to stay vigilant and hand pick, but it always takes a few days before I even notice they are active. By that time I've lost a few good branches. I'm sure the Bt is a lot more effective at getting them before they even get started.

They're so well camouflaged. For such large pests, they're ridiculously hard to see. I never see the hornworms first--just their frass and damage. Then I have to comb through meticulously to locate them. Sometimes, I resort to finding them by feel.

Call me blind but I don't see it.

gumby, no worm in the photo, but that drop-looking thing is almost certainly a hornworm egg. The moths lay only 1, maybe 2-3 eggs on one leaf, but they usually do that in multiple places.

I rarely find the eggs. They usually are 2" long before I even find the worms, and the damage done.

a-ha IC. I did see the egg but thought people were talking about not seeing the worm and they do blend right in. Don't think I would ever look that close in my garden.

Yeah, I don't usually see them either. This one just happened to be at eye level on an outside leaf. Couldn't miss it.

And so it begins for me as well. Found one each on my Green Giants.

The fact that GG has fewer leaves (albeit giant ones) probably makes the eggs easier to see on those plants. I'll have to keep a look out now.

I always feel a bit of a pang when I crush the eggs. They're so pretty.

I found a top missing, and a damaged leaf, on one of the taller plants. I searched and searched and found no other suspicious damage. I'm pretty sure a bird took out a hornworm.

Cardinals are especially ravenous predators of hornworms around here.