Hornworms feed on plants in the Solanaceae family (commonly known as 鈥渘ightshades鈥), so they’ll need to be placed on another plant that’s in this family in order to be able to develop into moths. Tomatoes are a nightshade, as are potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tobacco鈥攂ut these are all plants that you normally wouldn’t want them to eat! There may be wild Solanaceae in your area, such as jimsonweed, horsenettle, or nightshade itself, where you could move the caterpillars to. However, these plants are poisonous, and thus hard to find.
Hornworms may feed on petunias as well. If you can’t find any wild nightshades, perhaps you could set up a couple petunia plants for the hornworms. Or, in future seasons, plant more tomatoes than you need, designating some as 鈥渃aterpillar-friendly!鈥
Hornworms feed on plants in the Solanaceae family (commonly known as 鈥渘ightshades鈥), so they’ll need to be placed on another plant that’s in this family in order to be able to develop into moths. Tomatoes are a nightshade, as are potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tobacco鈥攂ut these are all plants that you normally wouldn’t want them to eat! There may be wild Solanaceae in your area, such as jimsonweed, horsenettle, or nightshade itself, where you could move the caterpillars to. However, these plants are poisonous, and thus hard to find.
Hornworms may feed on petunias as well. If you can’t find any wild nightshades, perhaps you could set up a couple petunia plants for the hornworms. Or, in future seasons, plant more tomatoes than you need, designating some as 鈥渃aterpillar-friendly!鈥