Pests/Ctrl Tomato Hornworm removal

[Bud in Fla]

I just heard & tried a trick for locating and removing tomato hornworms. They glow in the dark when you hit them with a UV/Black light flashlight. I only found one worm and some kind of beetle that was glowing in the dark, too but both were removed from my tomato plants.
The UV flashlight run $8 and up at Walmart & Amazon.

The tomato hornworm becomes a Sphinx moth with a 4" to 6" wing span

 

[drafter]

You can look for the droppings too under the plant which gives you a clue to where they’re at. Them suckers are tough to see! I’ve had plants nearly stripped clean in just a night.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Give them to your chickens and stand back to watch the hornworm games. You can almost call the plays: Gretchen catches the kick off and runs down the field, Alice stole the partially decapitated worm, Frieda has it now and it's a shadow of it former self, Gretchen caught the bag of hornworm skin.... Awww, she horked it down for the touchdown!!!!!

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Or you could try preventing the tomato hornworm in the first place.

It is actually pretty easy to do.

Just plant basil in your tomato patch. Close enough that they share at least some of the same root space.

You see, if there is any thing tomato hornworms do NOT like the smell of, it is basil. It there is enough of it hanging around, the hornworm will go searching elsewhere for a place to live.

As an extra bonus, by sharing some of the same root space, basil roots emit a hormone into the soil that help their tomato companions grow bigger, better and better tasting. Meantime, the tomato roots emit a hormone into the ground that helps the basil plant grow.

The two plants grow together and help each other grow. I would never plant my tomato patch without plenty of basil.

And I NEVER get hornworms, though my neighbors who do not plant basil do.

 

[West]

Excellent extra food for chickens who produce eggs or neighbors who refused to prep. At least at first. Put the worms in a breathable zip lock and some tomato leaves and some water, and put it into the free charity food collection box.

That would have to be worth about $20 in a tax donation credit per worm. There's got a be a ton of good protein in a full grown horned tomato worm.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I also recommend planting basil with your tomatoes. We don't have horn worms, either. Planting marigolds with tomatoes also helps. I plant both with our tomatoes.

 

[GB Appling]

Them suckers are hard to see and can and will strip a plant in a hurry.
I have witnessed Cardinals hunting through the vines and eating them. Birds love them. Thanks for the cool tip of basil and tomatoes.

 

[Freebirde]

Mockingbirds like them too. Make a place for the birds to perch next to the plant or use a tomato cage with large gaps.