Are you aware that big green bugs are eating your tomato plants? Then tomato hornworms or tobacco hornworms, which are closely related, are probably eating your crops.
These hungry caterpillars are common tomato pests. They can quickly eat the leaves off of tomato plants, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. If you want to get rid of hornworms, you will need to move quickly. They can quickly destroy a veggie plot.
Tobacco hornworms are more common in the South, while tomato hornworms are more common in the North. Tobacco hornworms are more common in the South, and they are the eggs of the Carolina sphinx moth (Manduca sexta).
To get perfect tomatoes, you need to keep these pests under control and care for healthy, productive plants.
1. PICK THEM OFF BY HAND
It might sound gross, but the best way to get rid of tomato hornworms that are already present is to pick them off by hand. They are big, but they don’t bite, so they’re easy to handle. Put on gloves if you’re scared!
Every day, check on the plants. Evening is the best time to do this because that’s when the caterpillars are most busy. To see the caterpillars better, shine a flashlight over the plants and carefully look at each leaf and stem, making sure to look both on top of and under the leaves.
If you see a hornworm, take it off the plant and drop it right into a bucket of clean water. On the other hand, if you have chickens, you can feed them the hornworms. They’ll be thrilled to eat them.
2. REPEL THEM WITH A HOMEMADE SPRAY
You could use a homemade spray to get rid of hornworms if you don’t want to or can’t pick them out by hand. Hornworms don’t like cayenne pepper, which is used in this dish.
3. USE BACTERIAL INSECTICIDE
Bt is a naturally occurring bacterium that can be found in some soils. It makes some insects sick, especially leaf- and needle-feeding caterpillars.
It has a crystal protein in it that stops the hornworms’ digestive system from working. They will stop eating over the course of a few days and die of hunger.
Humans and good bugs are not hurt by Bacillus thuringiensis, but butterfly eggs will be killed by it, so only use it on crops that are actively being infested.
It is usually sprayed on, and it works best when the caterpillars are still young and haven’t done much damage yet. So check on plants every day.
4. ATTRACT PREDATORY INSECTS
To get rid of tomato hornworms, your best friends are predatory insects that do the dirty work for you. While they are helpful, they are not a quick fix and should only be used as part of a long-term plan for control.
It is the larvae of a braconid wasp that eats the caterpillar from the inside out. The eggs are laid on tomato hornworms. Leave a tomato hornworm caterpillar in your garden that is wrapped in white bags that look like rice alone. The wasps will grow up and eat it, and the hornworm will die.
Once they are fully grown, the wasps will make more wasps and kill even more hornworms.Ladies bugs and green lacewings will also eat eggs or young caterpillars. You can buy both and put them in your yard.
5. DETER HORNWORMS WITH COMPANION PLANTS
Tomato partner plants are great for getting rid of tomato hornworms and other pests like thrips and aphids. Their flowers or leaves have a strong smell that keeps bad bugs away but attracts good bugs that pollinate plants.
Borage, basil, marigolds, and nasturtiums work especially well; put them between your tomato plants.Along with keeping pests away, partner planting can help increase nutrients and even make food taste better.
Also See: Best Perennial Vegetables: Grow Crops That Come Back Every Year