retiredHSmom Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) I just drowned 3 tomato horn worms. I am a military brat turned military wife and have moved my whole life and have never really been able to grow plants, we moved way too often. I have now lived here six years and have started growing tomatoes. I have fun doing it and they taste great. On Monday I noticed that an evergreen bush in our front yard was dying. After some research I learned that it has bag worms. Yuck. Then last night after spraying that bush, while I was closing my back curtains I noticed that my tomato plants looked wrong. I inspected them this morning and found that they were missing about half their leaves. Google to the rescue again and I discovered that I have tomato horn worms. Yuck and now I am mad. I like my tomato plants and I planted eight this year and just bought fancy new tomato cages. But, there is no way in hell I am picking those huge, gross things off by hand! All day I have watched my plants getting barer and barer. Then I had an inspiration. I took tongs and a bucket of soapy water and picked them off and drowned them. My plants are saved. Now I just have to figure out how to keep them from coming back. Edited June 28, 2017 by Tania 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am absolutely impressed! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 As a fellow military brat turned military wife... I'm impressed! I never tried my hand at growing anything green. Not even houseplants. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in FL Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 :crying: :crying: :crying: You are SO brave! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredHSmom Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 As a fellow military brat turned military wife... I'm impressed! I never tried my hand at growing anything green. Not even houseplants. LOL Yeah, I can't keep houseplants or fish alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Good job! Those things are ugh, creepy, nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Way to go! I am a pretty fearless bug squisher, but even I use gloves to pick off those big hornworm caterpillars. They are fearsome when they lash about. If you do sqush them always point the rear end away from you. :) A couple of things I've noticed about hornworms: - Hornworms usually appear around mid-June in the mid-Atlantic, after the weather has settled. - The more plants we have with the tiny blossoms parasitic wasps like, the fewer hornworms we get. Right now we have lovage (perennial, carrot family), parsley (biennial, overwintered from last year), cilantro, dill, sunflowers, and buckwheat blooming in and around our vegetable gardens. The blossoms are covered with small insect pollinators and predators. Also, leave the hornworms with the cocoons on their backs alone. Congratulations on your garden! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I was traumatized by them as a child when my aunt had them and insisted that my cousin and I step on them. I just couldn't bring myself to squish them. Still makes me shudder. Fast forward a few years ago we had a slew of them. I sent my boys out to deal with them. They didn't want to step on them either so I gave them sticks to knock them off and rocks to squish them with. They had fun with that until they realized a squished horn worm looks exactly like fresh pesto. I bought some spray because I didn't want to deal with them coming back. Seemed to work, I didn't see them for years. Last years they were back but I we only found 2 in the garden but there was another 6 in the tomato plant by my front door. I hope to never seen them again. Good for you for dealing with them! I just can't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Watch and see if you find any horn worms covered with white wasp eggs. There is a predatory wasp that lays its eggs on the horn worms. After those show up, my horn worm population rapidly dies off. Let nature do the icky work for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yuck...I would be bribing my boys with cookies or candy to do that job for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredHSmom Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yuck...I would be bribing my boys with cookies or candy to do that job for me. My son is away on a trip for the week and at the rate that the darn worms were eating the plant there would have been nothing left by the time he got here. I almost let the darn worms have the plants, but I like my homegrown tomatos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Wow! My tomato plants were killed by aphids :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I think bagworms are the most disgusting insect there is. At our previous house, we had a long line of Leeland Cypress trees on the side of our property and the nieghbor had a row as well. One year, they all had many bagworms. I told the neighbor's son they wer ebagworms, and then he told his dad. The dad didn't believe him at first. He was like, "no, those aren't bugs! Those are like pinecones!" The kid said, "no, dad, look. It's a worm that makes a bag out of the twigs!" He looked more closely and said, "Well, I'll be darned. It IS a bug." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Wow! My tomato plants were killed by aphids :( You need ladybugs for that! ladybugs LOVE to eat aphids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Wow! My tomato plants were killed by aphids :(Whoa! I have never heard of that. That's terrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I think bagworms are the most disgusting insect there is.I agree. How did you get rid of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I think (after googling) that hornworms are adorable and bagworms are evolutionary genius. But I don't garden. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I agree. How did you get rid of them? I don't remember precisely, but I believe DH used a sprayer and sprayed some sort of poison on them all. It was not an organic sort of operation, that's all I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I think (after googling) that hornworms are adorable and bagworms are evolutionary genius. But I don't garden. Well, you have a point. But it's hard to think that while they are devouring your evergreens. And watching them inch along with those twigs on their back is just so...disturbing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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