Tomato Worms

This Spring I decided to give container gardening a try by planting one tomato and one pepper plant. Things were going well and I had three each of peppers and tomatoes growing nicely. When I stepped onto my deck one morning to check on my darling little plants, I was repulsed to see a giant tomato worm between my two smallest tomatoes. The tomato worm was munching away at both tomatoes and had eaten half of one and a quarter of another. My tomato plant was missing leaves where the tomato worm had eaten them down to stubs. Because I find tomato worms hideous I grabbed a pair of kitchen tongs, pulled him off and flung him into the yard. I’m sure a bird or two thanked me. I began to recall summers as a child where I watched my dad pull tomato worms from his tomato plants each evening. Was there really nothing more I could do to save my tomatoes? Would have to diligently pluck these monster tomato worms from my plants each day?

The tomato worm is actually a tomato hornworm or a tobacco hornworm. The tomato hornworm is the larvae of the Hawk Moth while the tobacco hornworm is the larvae of the Sphinx Moth. Both of the moths are large, grayish insects having a wing span of 4 to 5 inches. Typically the tobacco hornworm lives in the Southern states while the tomato hornworm prefers the north.

The moths lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves of tomato plants. Here the tomato worms hatch and begin to eat away at the leaves on the tomato plant stalk and eventually the fruit that the plant bears. It takes about a month for the tomato worm to pass through its five larval stages. These tomato worms work very quickly while eating. They are busy at night and dislike the sun. Checking tomato (and other nightshade plants) in the evening and early morning hours may reveal tomato worms that couldn’t be seen during the day.