Just found our first horn worms of the year, chowing on our tomato plants. In October.
This is the benefit of planting the tomatoes late, I suppose, and also of using Topsy Turvy planters for the first time. The durn critters didn’t have a way of getting to the plants until the branches hit the ground. And by then the tomatoes are mature enough to withstand a little stress.
Of course the downside of planting them late is we were denied home-growns for several painful weeks. Pick your poison I suppose. (It’s just a saying, Jenn. And if I were picking poison, it would be bio-degradable and safe for the water table, I swear.)
Actually, my favorite way to deal with horn worms is completely organic. It’s three easy steps:
- I pluck them off the plant carefully.
- I chuck them into the middle of the street.
- I watch the bluejays and mocking birds come in for them.
The birds are there, without fail, in 10 minutes. It’s kind of awesome, and I swear I’m not normally a sadistic sort.
But threaten my tomatoes, and this is what happens.
