This eating machine is the first tomato hornworm I’ve spotted this year on my tomato plants. Left alone, these worms can virtually strip a tomato plant in a few days. This little guy was about the size of my middle finger before he was relocated to the garbage can!
Tomatoes come in all sizes. A new variety I planted this year, the “orange strawberry,” has turned out to be a giant. It’s a pleasantly mild (not terribly exciting), very meaty tomato weighing more than a pound. It’s shown here with a sungold cherry tomato and a mid-sized Carmello. I don’t think I’ll bother to grow this one again, given my limited garden space.
Finally, sometimes tomatoes are a little weird. I think this one has sleep apnea.
It all depends on what you get used to, I guess. I find him a lot less scary than a banana slug!
That guy is what I dislike about growing tomatoes in CA. They would scare the daylights out of me. I am sooo glad we don’t get them here in Seattle.
That tomato is so funny and cute.
Aha. Okay, that I could *maybe* manage. I’d probably be letting out little yelps the entire way, though! LOL
I have a system for the worms. I just use my pruners to cut off the branch below the worm and carry branch worm and all to the garbage can pinched in the pruners. I never get closer than arms’ length!
Love your garden characters! Except that little horned guy – yick! If it were my garden the tomatoes would be sacrificed, because I couldn’t bear to get close to him.
Signed, Colleen the squeamish weenie