Tomato hornworms made a reappearance in my garden this year. Last year I learned that they would eat bell pepper plants as well as tomato plants. Both of these plants are in the night shade family. (I am not as lucky as Jim over at thewealthyearth who has never had hornworms in his square foot garden.)
Fortunately for me, they showed up on September 20th, about a week before the first frost of the year. The tomato plants were well established and sustained little damage. The hornworms also came under attack from the Braconid wasp. These wasps actually kill the hornworms.
There were at least six of these hornworms on my tomato vines. The bell peppers were growing right next to the tomato plants this year. So it seems if given a choice, the hornworms will pick tomatoes over bell peppers. About half of the hornworms were doomed by the Braconid wasp, the others ended up as food for the chickens.
The gallery of tomato hornworm pictures (click any image so see a larger version).
Related Pages
- Perennial Bell Pepper Project
- Lessons Learned Gardening in 2011
- Lessons Learned Gardening in 2012
- More Information About The Braconid Wasp
- Pests In A Square Foot Garden
- Video: Chickens Eat Hornworms
Have you ever dealt with tomato hornworms?
