How to Get Rid of Tomato Worms: Removing the Worms

Tips and Ideas for How to Get Rid of Tomato Worms

If you find small black dots on the leaves of your tomato plants and notice holes in the leaves, bites out of the stems and some nibbles taken out of your green tomatoes you probably have tomato horned worms. These hungry, fat tomato plants worms hide quite well in the foliage of the tomato plants.

The tomato horned worm is the hungry teenager of the five-spotted hawkmoth, which has yellow and black spotted body and gray wings with a muted design. The tomato hornworms also like to nibble on other plants in the same family as the tomato. Peppers, potatoes and eggplant fall prey to these hungry hole-makers.

Removing tomato plants worms

You have several choices when it comes to ways to rid your garden of the tomato hornworm caterpillar after you pick them. The first is the choice many gardeners use, hand picking the worms and destroying them. If you’re a little squeamish about doing that, you’re in good company, but it does work like a charm. Again, you have three choices you pick them from the plant, squish them, recycle them or drop them in soapy water. Squishing the tomato worms is a simple process. Put them on the ground and step on them. This is not for the weak of stomach. The second one, recycle the worms is nothing more than putting the worms in your bird feeder and allowing the birds to finish off the hungry tomato eaters. The easiest is to simply fill a pan with soapy water and drop the worms into the water.

Natural Predators

If you don’t have the time,and know how to get rid of tomato worms or the stomach to pick of these annoying rascals, hire hit men. Predator insects effectively take care of the tomato worms and the best bug for the job are the wasps, both braconid and Trichogramma. These tiny wasps don’t bother with people so you probably won’t even notice them. They use the tomato worm as a nursery for their eggs, complete with a continental breakfast, a lunch buffet and a gourmet dinner. The wasps lay the eggs on the back of the hornworms and as the babies hatch, they feed on the worm and eventually kill it as they consume it. If you see a tomato horned worm with what looks like a coat of rice, don’t squish it. That worm has wasp eggs on it, the ammo to kill any other worms that appear.

You don’t have to purchase the predator wasps since they live everywhere. In order to bring them into your garden, you should companion plant. The wasps love dill, fennel and any plant that has the umbrella type of flower cluster at the top. They also enjoy clover, spearmint and sweet alyssum. If you have these plants close by the tomatoes, the wasps will come and lay eggs.

Companion Planting

Planting dill near the tomatoes not only brings the predator wasps it also detours the tomato worms. Tomato green worms love dill even more than tomatoes. The fluffy green foliage of the dill makes it easier to see the thick, massive body of the tomato worm and destroying them is a lot easier.

Homemade Insecticide for How to Get Rid of Tomato Worms Naturally

Natural insecticide is another method of controlling the hefty tomato worm by removing tomato worms without using chemicals . You can make a tea using either petunia or rhubarb leaves. Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid. Oxalic acid has the potential to stop your heart, so wear rubber gloves and use pans and strainers you’ll not use for food later. Boil shredded leaves in a pot of water for 20 minutes, strain, pour into a bottle with a little liquid soap and spray the plant before it flowers and after the fruit forms. This potent insecticide is also good to kill other insects.

Cornmeal How to Get Rid of Tomato Worms using Home Remedies

Another method of doing in the tomato worms is the old wives method of sprinkling cornmeal around the plants. The theory is that the worms eat the cornmeal and when they swallow water, it swells and they burst. I’ve never seen this work very well.

Bacterial Eradication

The last method,for how to get rid of tomato worms and its much more efficient, is the purchase of commercial bacteria to spray on your plants. Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, called Bt. Commercial names are Dipel, Green Step and Thuricide. It infects the caterpillar and they lose the ability to eat. It doesn’t take long before they die.

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