07/09/2022
Tomatoes Worms
Gardening this year has been a challenge. Water awareness, over the top heat, roly-poly bugs ( common names abound, cellar bugs, sow bugs: they are actually a terrestrial crustacean Armadillidium vulgaris.. which really makes sense the roll up like an Armadillo and are vulgar in masses.)
My tomatoes have been complaining and reluctant to yield properly. While watering last night, I noticed leaf curl and droopy tips. OH NO…it’s a case of TOMATO HORNWORMS!! Anyone who has dealt with these little munchers now they are devastating to your tomatoes, tomatillos, or peppers, I have even found the them in my squash bed.
Now as a veteran gardener, I have squished many, many caterpillars, but these guys are large, juicy and gross. I “airmail” them into the driveway as an offering to the many birds which inhabit my yard.
So there are methods of ridding your poor tomatoes of these pests. Logically, picking them off, which is done best in evening when they come out of hiding to begin devastating your dreams of canning spaghetti sauce. Oil sprays or Safe Soap with BT ( Bacillus Thuringia ) or Neem oil will kill caterpillars and can be used as a pre-emergent.
Once the caterpillars are large enough to really be noticed there is not much you can pray that will kill the pest and not the host tomato plant. Annihilation is my go to, it is an Organic product that if so inclined you could drink.
For you out there that are less inclined to save the tomatoes and more toward the wonders of all nature, the horned tomato worm does turn into a beautiful Sphinx Moth or Hawk Moth. The Sphinx moth itself is pretty amazing, having been clocked at speeds up to 30mph, more on them later.
