Tobacco worms on tomatoes

My mom used to talk about tobacco worms getting into their tomatoes. I never knew what she was talking about. Now I realize that what I thought were tomato hornworms on my tomatoes are actually tobacco hornworms. They look almost the same except the horn is red on tobacco hornworms instead of green, and the side pattern is a little different.

I have been pulling several hornworms a day from my tomatoes. I always brush the worm poo from the leaves after handpicking the worms so I can tell when I go out again if there is any new feeding. Yesterday I checked about 1 pm and there was no sign of new worms or worm poo on any leaves. My husband went out last night about 6 pm and found that three huge tobacco hornworms had completely decimated the top of my cherry tomato plant.

Where had they been hiding all that time? All the other hornworms I pulled were small to medium in size and distributed throughout my ten plants. How did those three giants suddenly show up and in five hours' time completely munch at least a foot of a healthy, fast-growing plant, leaving only bare stems?

I am so frustrated by this year's bugs.

I can fully relate to you problem. My advice, go get some BT now and sprays the tomatoes with it. We thought we had gotten all of them one day only to come back the next to find more damage. They blend in so well that you miss them when looking for them. Oh and we also found them on pepper plants in the bed next to the tomatoes. These things are vicious.

Good luck on getting rid of them. Make sure to get the BT on them as soon as possible. There is no telling how many more are lurking in your garden.

Caterpillars are amazingly good at disguise. I had the same experience several times, having them under my nose and not seeing them...