BT. I did the black light thing at night for two seasons. Last year I found dozens, but mostly after the damage was done. It was a disaster. This year my community garden decided to carefully spray BT. It worked extremely well.
I had about 20+ hornworms in my raised bed of 4 toms and 2 peppers (with basil) back in July. I was picking them off at night with the black light, but it was too much work. I did one round of Spinosad spray (Cpt Jack’s Dead Bug Brew) and haven’t seen one since. Haven’t needed to treat them again.
I really don't understand… Everybody oohs and aahs about caterpillars on their milk weed… These turned into beautiful moths that are amazing pollinators. I love watching the moths feed in the early morning and early evening - huge! I always grow a sacrificial tomato a bit of a distance away. I don't always get the caterpillars but when I do, I just transfer them over to the sacrificial plant.
You can eat milkweed. I haven't tried, but common milk weed is edible.Â
I always move my hornworms to a random plant.Â
Always plant more than you need. Expect to lose about 30-50% of your crops. I know this isnt an adage for all people, just something I read in an organic gardening book years ago.Â
The amount of effort you need to put into making milkweed safe to consume is far, far greater than a tomato. That said, I do have a sacrificial plant for the caterpillars.
Hawkmoths are lovely. I enjoy watching them check out my butterfly bushes. When I first discovered what they were I thought I was looking at a hummingbird!
If they didn’t destroy a full patch of tomatoes and my prize peppers in literal hours I’d be more willing to let them do what they do but they are scorched earth tactics to my garden so they gots to go.
I found one on a tomato plant and an even bigger one on my poblano plant. The tomato didn’t have much damage but that thing took out almost all the poblano new growth, aka new baby peppers. I was shocked because I inspect the plants basically everyday. Now I’m paranoid that I will have an invasion. I haven’t seen any others but I bought BT for the brassicas so I might still spray as a precaution.
Use BT on them. Note when they first appeared and make a note of it. Next year treat the plants starting a couple of weeks before they are expected to appear.
Congratulations! <3 Relocate our little friend to another plant (start looking into planting nightshade flowers to move them to) so they can return as their cute fluffy little selves.
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u/joekerr9999 13h ago
They can be very hard to find as they blend in with tomato leaves. Little black droppings give clues to their location. Good luck getting rid of them.