Something crept in into my vegetable garden overnight and ate my zucchini plants.

I thought I did everything right! I put up two fences around my garden to keep out animals. One fence was a made of three foot chicken wire which I buried about one foot deep and the other was a four foot wire fence that was loose on top so animals could not climb up and get in. I planted six tomato plants, six lettuce, six cucumbers, and six zucchini plants. Everything was great. I mulched with the grass clippings from my lawn and watered regularly.

Then one morning I went out to watch my garden grow and notice all my zucchini plants where gone. Whatever got into my garden ate just my zucchini plants and left the rest of my garden alone.

The only thing I can think of is something got into my garden started chomping away on my zucchini and then got interrupted by a noise.

If I didn’t think of something fast I might lose the whole garden to an unknown critter. I can’t stay up all night and keep guard over my garden! I have a motion detector light that is close by, but clearly that did not help. I need something that moves and makes noise but what? Later that day when I was rinsing out plastic and tins for recycling, it came to me. Pie tins!

And that’s what I did. I hung pie tins on all sides of my garden. They make noise in the slightest of breeze and if something was trying to climb my fence they would surely make a clatter. I also added a small beach ball to roll around gently inside the garden just in case those critters get past my pie tins.

It’s been a month since I installed my pie tins and my vegetables are flourishing including the zucchini plants that I replanted.

I still don’t know what ate my zucchini plants but I’m sure glad I decided to make a pie!

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 Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms are green caterpillars usually 3-5 inches long that love to eat tomato leaves and stems. The Tobacco hornworm has 7 diagonal white stripes on each side of its body and a red horn on its back end. The Tomato hornworm has white “V” shaped markings with a black horn on its back end. Both hornworms have five pairs of prolegs, which are soft legs that are on the abdominal segment of the body.

 
They can blend in so well with the green leaves of your tomato plant, you may not even notice them; however, you will notice the  damage to the leaves and stems. They will eat holes in the leaves and at times eat the entire leaf leaving no stems.  During July and August they might even chew on the fruit of tomatoes and eggplants. Tomato hornworms have also been known to eat peppers and potatoes.

How do I know if I have Hornworms?

You will most likely spot the damaged leaves and stems at the top of the plant before you spot the hornworm. Hornworms will feed on the inside of the plant during hot sunny days and move to the outside in the morning and evening. You may notice large, black droppings (frass) that will pile up on the ground below the affected plants.

 
How do I get rid of Hornworms?

Pick them off using gloves and crush them with your foot or cut them in half with a garden tool.

If your Hornworm has small white cocoons attached to its body then leave them alone. The cocoons contain the larvae of a parasitic wasp that is a natural parasite of the hornworm. The wasps will kill the hornworms when they come out of their cocoons and search out other hornworms to attack.

Rototilling your garden after the season will kill the larvae that has burrowed into the soil of your garden.

Looking for more information about growing tomatoes or getting rid of tomato pests? Visit our Tomato Page.

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