American Sycamore Germination

[flowerbug]

I, who can slaughter any animal without a qualm, castrate livestock, get creeped out over handling a hornworm. Shivers.

i think a part of that is how they tend to grab on and seem like perhaps they're going to start chewing on my fingers. i don't handle them much either... usually i inspect them to see if they have any of the parasitic wasps on them or not, if they don't they get chopped in half and left on the ground as a bit of fertilizer and a warning to the next generation... i kinda doubt any of that works, but i can be hopeful can't i?

 

[baymule]

I had Summer Tanagers show up a couple of years ago and they eat up the horn worms. That's good, but they also will peck ripening tomatoes, so I have to pick them sooner and let them finish ripening in the house.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I, who can slaughter any animal without a qualm, castrate livestock, get creeped out over handling a hornworm. Shivers.

Growing up in East Tennessee our cash crop was tobacco. There is a tobacco hornworm that is extremely similar to a tomato hornworm. Later in the growing season we'd go through plant by plant looking for hornworms and budworms. The fresh poop and chewed up leaves made them easy to spot. If I was wearing shoes I'd generally toss them to the ground and rub my foot over them with pressure to kill them. If I were barefoot I'd pull them apart.

That was over half a century ago. Back then it was just something I did, grew up doing it. Now I might be a bit more squeamish, but now I'd be wearing shoes.

 

[flowerbug]

what i normally see here are the tobacco worms on the tomato plants. if i can get moving early enough in the morning they can be seen and picked off by hand, following the trails of droppings on the grounds and the leaves can give you hints about where they might be trying to hide.

the actual tomato worms look a bit different and i've seen them once in a while but not as often as the others. i've yet to see any parasitic wasps but i'd certianly leave them alone if i did.