Description
Tomato hornworms can destroy a tomato plant incredibly fast. In this video, I’ll show you how to find tomato hornworms, recognize hornworm damage, get rid of them, and help badly damaged tomato plants recover.
After years of having almost no hornworm problems, I suddenly got hammered with them this year. I’ll show you the warning signs I noticed, including stripped stems and hornworm droppings, plus the UV/blacklight flashlight trick that revealed just how many hornworms I had missed during the day.
We’ll also talk about hand-picking tomato hornworms, when I use Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), why you should leave parasitized hornworms covered in white wasp cocoons alone, and what happened to my tomato plants after the infestation was brought under control.
And there’s one more interesting part of this story: for years I’ve planted basil heavily around my tomatoes and had almost no hornworm problems. This year my basil got a late start—and suddenly I had my worst hornworm infestation ever. I can’t prove the two are connected, but I’ll show you exactly what happened and explain why my basil will never be late again.
MENTIONED PRODUCTS
UV Flashlight: https://amzn.to/3Uc67Gh
BT:https://amzn.to/3UcxmAy
Neptunes Harvest Fertilizer: https://shop.nextlevelgardening.tv/collections/organic-fertilizer
My book, "Companion Planting for Beginners" : https://amzn.to/4grrVFu
CHAPTERS
00:00 My Tomato Hornworm Disaster
01:41 How to Recognize Hornworm Damage
02:45 The Clue That Helps You Find Them
04:03 Find Hornworms at Night With a UV Light
05:32 When I Use Bt for Hornworms
08:15 Can a Stripped Tomato Plant Recover?
09:19 Did Late Basil Cause My Hornworm Problem?
11:36 DON’T Kill This Hornworm
12:58 Where Tomato Hornworms Come From
14:00 Exactly What to Do If You Find Hornworms
15:05 The Good News About Hornworm Damage