Tomato Hornworm on My Pepper Plant!

Beastly thing!!! We are about to get some rain, so I decided to go check my garden to see what could be picked before the storm hits. I looked at my pepper plants, and one had all the new growth eaten off, and three peppers with rather large holes. At first I was puzzled, then I knew EXACTLY who to go looking for to answer for this destruction. I didn't have far to look to find the culprit...a long fat hornworm! It had just eaten its last bite of my pepper plant. It was the last bite because I immediately pulled the caterpillar, squirming and protesting, off the plant and carried it to the chicken coop. The residents were quite appreciative of this pepper-flavored addition to their diet!

I was raised calling these caterpillars 'tomato hornworms' because that seems to be their plant of choice, but I have found them on potato plants and peppers, happily munching away. I have no doubt they will eat eggplant as well, and any plant in the nightshade family, wild or domestic. This includes tobacco. Really, it doesn't matter what plant I find them munching on...if I see them, their moments are numbered only by how fast I can either squish them or transport them to the nearest chicken or turkey!

Tomato Hornworms

Destructive buggers! They start out little, but don’t stay that way long. Fat and juicy with voracious appetites, these guys can put a hurting on your tomato plants in a short amount of time. The best way I have found to control them is to inspect your tomato plants regularly for damage. If you see holes in the leaves, or leaves missing altogether…start searching for a caterpillar in the area of damage. Or…start looking for fresh green poop pellets…the black ones are old, and the caterpillar will have moved out of that plant area. When you find fresh green ones, look directly above the poop. The caterpillars are hard to see, even the big ones. Their shade of green, spots, and white stripes make them blend in amazingly with the plant. Don’t give up! Keep looking until you find it. Then pull it off the plant…they won’t like that and will hang on…and then either step on the bugger, or carry it to the chicken coop. No guilt. The moth that they later turn into is ugly brown, and will be happy to lay many eggs on tomato plants…and sometimes potato plants as well.