Tomato Hornworms

You know, they are most entertaining when you give them one of the 4" or bigger worms. By then, their "skin" is tough enough to allow a really funny game of chicken Tug of War!

Appylover said:

Fed one to my roo because he is usually left out by the girls. All he did was drop it and call them over to get HIS treat. Its a wonder the poor bird is as fat as he is he feeds all the goodies to the girls.

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Sounds like he is in love. I'm with you I never see my roo eat but he takes care of his girlfriends.

SmittenChicken said:

I've had really good luck with companion planting - supposedly planting things like pungent herbs, onions and garlic around your tomatoes will repel tomato hornworms. I stopped getting them the year I put basil plants in among my tomatoes, but it could just be a coincidence.

I have to admit though, I would love to see what my chickens would do with them.

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Last year I decided to give container gardening a try since I haven't had much luck with 'regular' gardening. I planted 3 great big pots by the back porch with 2 different kinds of tomatos - a cherry one and a regular one - and put several spearmint plants in with them just on a whim. Then I did the same thing in the raised bed next to the front porch with the last couple of tomato plants except I had run out of spearmint. The fornt yard 'maters were nothing but mostly bald stems from the hornworms all over them. The backyard 'maters produced until mid October. Was it the spearmint??? I don't know but if I ever decide to do it again, I'm planting some sort of mint with them!

canesisters said:

Last year I decided to give container gardening a try since I haven't had much luck with 'regular' gardening. I planted 3 great big pots by the back porch with 2 different kinds of tomatos - a cherry one and a regular one - and put several spearmint plants in with them just on a whim. Then I did the same thing in the raised bed next to the front porch with the last couple of tomato plants except I had run out of spearmint. The fornt yard 'maters were nothing but mostly bald stems from the hornworms all over them. The backyard 'maters produced until mid October. Was it the spearmint??? I don't know but if I ever decide to do it again, I'm planting some sort of mint with them!

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I do think the spearmint did have something to do with the worms--I have a small garden and early on this summer I was having worms problems on the tomatoes and the cabbages-I went out and bought a spearmint plant and a peppermint plant--I have no worms on the tomatoes and the cabbages that are planted closest to the mint plants-ht e white moths do not even go close to the mint plants. Next year I'm planting the mints all throughout the garden.