Found an unwelcome guest on my tomato plants!

[tigercountry2023]

I've got several potted tomato plants, which I've recently been noticing holes and chew places on the leaves. I also found some small piles of black poop. I was starting to suspect this was the work of caterpillars, and they when I found a little green one on my shirt afterwards, I was quite sure.
I'm not sure whether you have the same type in the US, but here's a description;
Very small and thin, a pea green colour, no other markings, and really short.

Does anyone know how I can prevent them from getting to my tomato plants? I'm not too keen on shop-bought pest killers, so any home remedies or anything would be best.

Thanks,
Eilish

 

[valley ranch]

Welcome~Irish are yee Irish~ as your name~welcome``` Sounds like a Hornworm~like to say we didn't have the little *&&%%&& but we've plenty of them``` If it's a hornworm they can get bigger that a ladies thumb.
Course hornworms don't come off the plant easy~we have to tear them off```

Tell us more~if you've time```


Richard

 

[catjac1975]

If they are tomato horn worms they get huge but, blend into the plants. Look up from the poop piles and you should find them. Pluck them off and put in a cup of soapy water.

 

[Smart Red]

Another trick to get rid of the hornworms is to go at night with a flashlight. The worms refract light differently than the plant so they'er easy to see. They hang on tight and I've had them bite so I often take scissors and clip the leaf they're clinging to off. Then it's off to the chickens or into soapy water.


Last but not least, welcome to TEG! You've found the best-est garden site -- lots of knowledge, lots of experience, lots of fun, and friends here who are eager to share what does and doesn't work as well as answer questions and sometimes even share plants and seeds.

 

[PhilaGardener]

Welcome! Tomato hornworms (and other caterpillars) can be a problem (and I remove them promptly too), but I wanted to mention that are parasitic wasps that prey on hornworms as a biological control (and present no threat to humans). These wasps have been introduced here in the US - I don't know if you have them in Australia, or if any of your many native parasitic wasp species might fill that gap.

If the caterpillar has distinctive white projections on its back, a wasp has laid its eggs - that caterpillar's days are numbered, and the wasps that hatch will go on to attack other hornworms - so leave those alone. https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organ...save-your-tomatoes-from-hornworm-caterpillars has an informative write up on this biological control that you might enjoy reading.

It also can be informative and intriguing to identify the actual pest and understand what it is and what it will turn into when it "grows up". Most likely a moth, but I also have caterpillars for a number of butterflies that coexist with me in my garden. Its a happy bargain for me to lose a little fennel to enjoy black swallowtails dancing among my flowers.

 

[catjac1975]

Another trick to get rid of the hornworms is to go at night with a flashlight. The worms refract light differently than the plant so they'er easy to see. They hang on tight and I've had them bite so I often take scissors and clip the leaf they're clinging to off. Then it's off to the chickens or into soapy water.


Last but not least, welcome to TEG! You've found the best-est garden site -- lots of knowledge, lots of experience, lots of fun, and friends here who are eager to share what does and doesn't work as well as answer questions and sometimes even share plants and seeds.

UGH! I would never touch them with my bare hands.

 

[valley ranch]

We have a dog here that loves to eat them~and chickens```

I've seen pictures of the wasps eggs on the back of a hornworm ~but never here on earth```

 

[catjac1975]

Welcome! Tomato hornworms (and other caterpillars) can be a problem (and I remove them promptly too), but I wanted to mention that are parasitic wasps that prey on hornworms as a biological control (and present no threat to humans). These wasps have been introduced here in the US - I don't know if you have them in Australia, or if any of your many native parasitic wasp species might fill that gap.

If the caterpillar has distinctive white projections on its back, a wasp has laid its eggs - that caterpillar's days are numbered, and the wasps that hatch will go on to attack other hornworms - so leave those alone. https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organ...save-your-tomatoes-from-hornworm-caterpillars has an informative write up on this biological control that you might enjoy reading.

It also can be informative and intriguing to identify the actual pest and understand what it is and what it will turn into when it "grows up". Most likely a moth, but I also have caterpillars for a number of butterflies that coexist with me in my garden. Its a happy bargain for me to lose a little fennel to enjoy black swallowtails dancing among my flowers.

We have a dog here that loves to eat them~and chickens```

I've seen pictures of the wasps eggs on the back of a hornworm ~but never here on earth```

I have seen them-very cool looking. When they hatch they leave the dried up corpse of the horn worm.

 

[Smart Red]

UGH! I would never touch them with my bare hands.

Hands wash up well. I'm a gardener, after all.

 

[Nyboy]

I had a client tell me she will not garden because of worms

 

[catjac1975]

I had a client tell me she will not garden because of worms

She does not belong in a garden.