# HELP: weird caterpillar things on my tomato plants!



## banshee67 (Aug 2, 2010)

so i found 4 of these guys sitting on my biggest tomato plant that has the most tomatoes on it ( of course)..
they look like some scary little caterpillar with some crazy colors on it... i remember reading somewhere that some caterpillars are dangerous/toxic? how about all the white sacks on their backs? are those a bunch of of kids? anyone seen these creepy lookin things before?! i have 4 different varieties of tomatoes growing, and this is the only plant with any of these things on it!! 
yes i know cutting branches off is not a good idea.. but im not touching those things..


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## Bigrod (Aug 2, 2010)

We always called them tomato worms. The one with the white on it are eggs laid by a butterfly or moth, not sure which and when hatched they will feed on the worms. We usually walk around the plants in the evening and you can see where they are by the fresh green droppings on the ground and if it is quiet out you can here them crunching on the leaves and stems. We just picked them off and gave them to are chickens. They loved them or just stepped on them and smashed em. Not sure if the have a spray that you can put on the plants but I'm sure there is something out there for them if you wanted to go that route.
When we were little we tied firecrackers to themand would blow them up.


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## poorboypaul (Aug 2, 2010)

Product called "seven" in dust or liquid applied to your 'maters should take care of them. just read and follow label directions carefully.


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## rxe (Aug 2, 2010)

The caterpillar is a privet hawk moth - not a pest at all, stick it on a privet hedge. 

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1772

Not sure what the blobs are - could well be parasitic wasps.


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## Birdhunter1 (Aug 2, 2010)

It's actually sevin dust not seven dust. Though I hate maters my grandma taught me how to dust em, take an old mayo jar with a metal lid, poke holes in it suitable for say lightning bugs to survive, fill it with sevind sut and shake it onto your plants. Works well on all your garden stuff to keep bugs off, cabbage, beans, cucumbers...... not corn.

She died at age 86 or something like that, my other grandma was in her 90's, as far as I know they used it since who knows when.


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## poorboypaul (Aug 3, 2010)

What's sevin dsut?


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## banshee67 (Aug 3, 2010)

wow, so i got caterpillars attacking my tomatoes, and parasitic wasps attacking my caterpillars>?
.. that video really creeped me out

i didnt know what to do with em, so i just threw the 4 of em in the woods

will wasps hatch out of those white eggs?

about this sevin dust... is it non-toxic and safe?
my tomatoes and all my herbs and peppers are all organic and grown in organic soil with organic nutrients, i dont want to cover them in something that isnt healthy or possibly harmful? but then again i dont think you guys would recommend using it on tomato plants if it was harmful to my health?

thanks for the replies


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## brandonc77 (Aug 3, 2010)

Yeah those eggs will hatch and slowly eat the caterpiller for food then they will stick around and kill unwanted bugs in your garden. Also stay way from Sevin Dust its not organic at all and will kill bugs that are good for your garden like lady bugs and spiny soldier bugs. Use Diatomaceous Earth it is organic pest control if needed.
As for the Catepillers destroying your tomatoes just pull them off and like previously mention put them on some kind of invasive plant nearby like a privet or bush honeysuckle. Your tomatoes will be fine.


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## Labman (Aug 3, 2010)

None of the insecticides are completely safe, but Sevin is one of the lessor problems. As above, read and follow directions. Good all around advice. I have learned a lot reading directions.


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## Birdhunter1 (Aug 3, 2010)

Banshee here ya go, a quick tutorial on it:
http://www.gardentech.com/sevin_fastfacts.asp

In a true organic garden you wouldn't use this as it is a chemical (my opinion on it but I am not an organic guy). But from what I've read on it it doesn't absorb into plant tissue it sits on the outside. Both grandma's and my parents wash the veggies before they eat em, I'm 30 years old and like I said as long as I can remember my grandmothers and parent's have used it.


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## Hansenj11 (Aug 4, 2010)

its called a horn caterpillar, stuff called Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) will kill it and its organic


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## banshee67 (Aug 4, 2010)

i dont really want to kill things, i just dont want them on my plants. i threw the caterpillars and wasps eggs things in the river the other day, i will try and see what i can get at my local store,i like the idea of organic stuff on things im going to eat if i can control it, the plant in question has about 20 nice big green tomatoes on it i dont wana lose em to the caterpillars infested with wasps, i ve never seen anything like that, thanks for all the info and replies


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## Stihlofadeal64 (Aug 5, 2010)

banshee67 said:


> i dont really want to kill things, i just dont want them on my plants. i threw the caterpillars and wasps eggs things in the river the other day, i will try and see what i can get at my local store,i like the idea of organic stuff on things im going to eat if i can control it, the plant in question has about 20 nice big green tomatoes on it i dont wana lose em to the caterpillars infested with wasps, i ve never seen anything like that, thanks for all the info and replies



Use the organic stuff to treat your plants. Then when the tomatoes are ripe, pull them, wash them, slice them. Use your favorite whole wheat bread and add some Duke's mayo and salt and pepper. Be careful though, if you lay the sandwich near your mouth your tongue may slap your brains out! :hmm3grin2orange:


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## redoakneck (Aug 13, 2010)

I can not believe I haven't seen 1 suggestion on a chainsaw forum not to buzz that little free loading tomato sucker with a 7900 or 090!!!!

Ha Ha, I am the tomato king and my suggestion to you is to pay some kids 25cents a piece to pick them off. They will die from the parasite larva anyway.

Pete


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## PURPLEBOWYER (Aug 15, 2010)

If you would have left them on your plant they would destroyed it overnite.a handful of those things will wipe out alot of tomato plants.Smashem


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## peterc38 (Aug 21, 2010)

Yo Banshee,

Those are tomato hornworms. They are the larva of the hummingbird moth. As mentioned, they can do a lot of damage to the plants and fruit.

Those white eggs in the pictures you posted eggs are actually wasp eggs that attack the tomato hornworm.

The best ways to get rid of them are either pick them off and/or spray Thuricide (BT) on them.

You could also let the wasps do their job.

Also, you can kill a lot of the pupae that overwinter in the soil by tilling in the spring.

Persoanlly, I would not put chemicals such as "Sevin" on anything I was going to eat.


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