Are there any easy home remedies for tomato worms?
Answers:
Ok....worms IN The tomato? or do you mean cut worms that chew through the stm/stalk? I'll talk about both since I'm not sure....
1: Never, ever, use tobacco products because of the Mosaic Virus...they are right! And that's not just an "anti-smoking/smoker" sentiment. I'm a smoker and I wash my hands before entering the garden if I've taken a smoke break......even if I'm just going out there to water!! Tobacco Mosaic CAN be in the tobacco in the cigaette....it's not killed in the making! (or smoking)
The organic "TEA" or spray that I use in my gardens is compost tea or hot pepper spray. I make both...easy to do if you have the raw materials. Right now...for this year: I doubt you have them readily available as they have to be set or harvested the year before you use it.... so look online at some of the gardening spots (especially organics...) and purchase some for this year that way. I have a hard time finding it in the stores, but.....I live in the boonies of VA where I have to import sun light.....so.....
2: Hot Pepper spray won't hurt anything, but it confuses the heck out of the buggies because they can't identify their favorite food source due to your having altered the scent of the plant with hot pepper juice. Just don't spray it on a windy day (OUCH!!) and make sure you re-apply after rain.
Before doing that though, check the underside of your leaves. Wipe off any eggs (make sure you squish them, not just transfer them). They may be beneficials, but they may be the whatever from whence the wormies wiggled!!
3: If you can't find hot pepper spray, and you get really, really really, desperate.....and don't relish the idea of just not having tomaoes this year with out a trip to the stand........it's not organic, but it won't hurt kiddies, cats, or dogs.....put some Borateem Laundry Detergent or Boric Acid in your flour sifter (and then get a new sifter as this one will now be relegated to the gardening shed).....and sift a fine powder on the plants and veggies (try not to get the blossoms though....it will affect the bees!! and unfortunatly any other exosceletal creature residing there....lady bugs, praying mantis, spiders.....) Now, get set to plant or set up for next year's invasion by planting hot peppers: I recommend Peter Peppers (Totally Tomatoes) and start a compost heap with LOTS of grass clippings with your other stuff....
For next time, after you've had a chance to grow/set up:
For worms: hot pepper spray.
Harvest and dry hottest peppers you can find. Grind into powder over the winter (be careful not to inhale!!) Store in dry cool place. When needed, spoon into boiling water, make tea, allow to cool (strain), and put in the spray bottle. Check the wind direction!
Compost Tea:
Take material from the bottom of heap that is about 90% cooked. Fill a container about 1/3 of the way. Fill the rest of the way with water, seal, set in sun for 2-3 days (the warmer the better, but you'll need it before really hot summer sets in). Strain, put the "strained" stuff back in the compost heap. Fill the rest of the way up with water (to dillute the "tea").....fill spray bottle with the liquid for folicular feedings or just water around the plants that need a little boost directly from the bucket. This stuff might not smell the best to us, but it's a great natural fertilizer boost, and it, too, confuses the plant munching nasties!!
4: Now....if you are talking cut worms......eating the stalks and plants....For this year??? Man...once they are there, unless you can find them, or import a bunch of toads....but really: the moth ball thing works (a bit) because the camphor/ordor chases them away (most of the time).. It IS toxic to animals though. Cedar mulch is costly, but has about the same effect on the worms...unfortunatley, it's only about as effective as the moth balls too...no guarantee once they are there!
Not much help if that is what you meant this year, but for next year:
5: The best cure is prevention...when you get ready to plant or tranplant when the tomatoes root balls are about 2-3 inches around...
Take a 20 oz soda bottle (plastic)....cut off the top and bottom. Feed the root ball through the tunnel of the bottle, (the leaves should still be sticking out of the top of the plastic bottle...and hopefully, you'll have 1-4 inches of stalk between the root ball and the bottom of the bottle so that you can "mud" in the tomato), and plant the plant. Firmly secure the bottom edge of the plastic barrier in the earth. Not only will this keep the cut worms from getting your prize "maters", it allows more controlled watering if water restrictions, drought, or high water prices, have you doing it by hand, and it also supports the plant through the shocky, "you messed with my feet, I'm going to lay down now and scare the begeezers out of you!!" phaze after transplant!
6: When you pull out the tomato plant at the end of the season, clip off the stalk, remove the plastic sheild and recycle by storing for use next year (but this means washing, bleaching, stacking and storing.....and let's be real...we will empty enough over winter to do it again)....or putting them in the appropriate space in the recycle bins for the garbage man or at the dump!!
(ah...I pulled this for edit....I forgot about the BT's mentioned. This is a great solution as well for a problem already in existance. It can affect other insects and larvae of benificials too, but it's not dangerous or toxic to you, pets, kids, etc....it's also a bit easier to find than straight up boric acid. However, there are now strains of critters that have developed a resistance to this bacteria....but....give it a try too!!)
Good luck and happy gardening!!
Other answers:
Well, I usually just pick them off the plants and then squish them (i know, it's kinda disgusting....but effective). I squish them by stepping on them, but DON'T STOMP....you'll get green worm juice all over ya!
Well, I usually just pick them off the plants and then squish them (i know, it's kinda disgusting....but effective). I squish them by stepping on them, but DON'T STOMP....you'll get green worm juice all over ya!
try tomatomessenger group on Yahoo it has a web-site as well - its very useful
I have been having the worst problems with bugs in my garden this year also. Nothing that I was buying at the stores worked. A lady I work with told me to try this. It may seem strange and kinda gross, but bare with me here ok. Take cigarette butts (If you dont smoke, find someone who you know that does and ask them to save you their cigarette butts for about a day.) and boil them along with crushed garlic cloves, like making a sort of tea out of them and then drain the liquid. (you want to keep the liquid, not the other stuff) Put it in a spray bottle and hose your plants down with it. It wont harm the plant or make the fruit taste bad. It wont kill the bugs, they just dont like it and will stay off the plant. Best of Luck!
I would be careful about using anything derived from cigarette butts. Tomatoes are vulnerable to tobacco mosaic virus. No kidding.
I think picking is best, but I have heard of people shaking things like cornstarch or baking powder over the plants. Apparently the worms don't like crawing through powdery substances.
NEVER put tobacco products on tomato plants! It can carry tobacco mosaic virus that will kill your plants dead!
The best natural remedy for worms is Bacillus Thuringensis dust. It comes under many names, but just ask for BT dust, and you'll be fine. It's a bacteria that kills the worms and isn't toxic to any other living creature.