Tomato Pests
Every spring there are insects just waiting to attack your tomato plants. UT Extension Entomologist Dr. Frank Hale talks about the common pests of tomato.
The first threat to tomato plants is from the cutworm. At night these worms will clip off the thin stems of small plants which will kill them. Most cutworms overwinter in a southern climate and the adult moths are blown back north by the spring winds. To prevent cutworm damage, you can wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the stem at the soil level. You can also treat the soil around the plant with an insecticide.
Aphids will move in from wild host plants and will feed on the young tender leaves of the plant. Aphids can multiply rapidly. If Frank sees aphids on a plant, he washes that plant off with soapy water before planting. You can also blast aphids off plants with a jet of water. He recommends not using insecticides on aphids and letting the beneficial insects take care of the problem.
There are many caterpillars that will feed on tomato leaves and fruit. The largest are the tomato and tobacco horn worms. These can grow to four inches and rapidly defoliate a plant. You might also see army worms or other worms eating the fruit. The adult moths fly at night and lay their eggs on the leaves or fruit. When the caterpillars are small, they don’t do much damage, but they will grow as they feed for several weeks damaging the plant or fruit. If you only have a few plants, you can manually pick them off, but you need to search daily. You can also use BT which is an organic insecticide that kills caterpillars.
June 29, 2018
Related Resources:
Insect Pests of Tomato
Tomatoes Disease and Insect
The first threat to tomato plants is from the cutworm. At night these worms will clip off the thin stems of small plants which will kill them. Most cutworms overwinter in a southern climate and the adult moths are blown back north by the spring winds. To prevent cutworm damage, you can wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the stem at the soil level. You can also treat the soil around the plant with an insecticide.
Aphids will move in from wild host plants and will feed on the young tender leaves of the plant. Aphids can multiply rapidly. If Frank sees aphids on a plant, he washes that plant off with soapy water before planting. You can also blast aphids off plants with a jet of water. He recommends not using insecticides on aphids and letting the beneficial insects take care of the problem.
There are many caterpillars that will feed on tomato leaves and fruit. The largest are the tomato and tobacco horn worms. These can grow to four inches and rapidly defoliate a plant. You might also see army worms or other worms eating the fruit. The adult moths fly at night and lay their eggs on the leaves or fruit. When the caterpillars are small, they don’t do much damage, but they will grow as they feed for several weeks damaging the plant or fruit. If you only have a few plants, you can manually pick them off, but you need to search daily. You can also use BT which is an organic insecticide that kills caterpillars.
June 29, 2018
Related Resources:
Insect Pests of Tomato
Tomatoes Disease and Insect