The Stupid Tomato Worms

While it is true that there are a lot of other pests on the farm, but the Tomato Hornworms have a special place at 4-H as the most hated of them all. and it's not just because they look like this:



they also cause a ton of damage to tomato plants by eating leaves, eating the fruit, and laying eggs all over the place so there is never a shortage of these little creeps in our tomatoes. There is still hope though, since there are ways you can get these worms out of your plants.

1. bring in some predators .
tomato worms have a few predators, an if these other animals won't do any harm to your tomatoes or other crops, then you can keep a few of those around. These include lady beetles, green lacewigs, and wasps, though I would not recommend wasps if you are planing on keeping the tomato plants in an enclosed space (like a porch or greenhouse) or near children or pets.

2. handpicking
if you have only have a few tomato plants and you want to keep it natural, you can always pick the worms off by hand. They may look scary, but tomato worms do not bite and are harmless. You may still want to wear gloves while picking, because some of the worms can be covered in wasp eggs, like this one:


3. Bacillus Thuringiensis
this is a bacterial disease that affects Tomato worms, and it is commonly available in most garden stores and other stores such as Home Depot. You spray the leaves with BT (it does not affect tomato plants) and when the insects eat the leaves, they will become infected by the disease.