The cutworm is a nocturnal moth that is nocturnal, but this only applies to adult moths. The name Scoops comes from a specific pattern on the wings. This insect spends a good portion of its life in the caterpillar stage, about three weeks. All this time, the caterpillar continuously eats vegetation. Despite the fact that it can eat both leaves and shoots, and if there are juicy fruits, this pest gives preference to them. Tomatoes are a delicacy for these caterpillars, so they eat them with pleasure. As a result, the tomatoes spoil before they are even picked, and the harvest is lost. To understand how to deal with this pest, what means to use for the best effect, let's look at the life cycle of this unpleasant living creature.

Adult butterfly

It appears in the summer from a pupa that has overwintered in the soil. Depending on the climate and weather, this is May, June or July. At this stage it is not a pest, since butterflies do not eat plants, but feed on nectar. The trouble is that they begin to lay eggs just a few days after they are born.

Scoop Eggs

An adult butterfly lays eggs directly on plants, which will later serve as food. As a rule, these are green leaves, but in the case of tomatoes they can also be fruits, both green and red tomatoes. One butterfly can lay from 500 to 1000 eggs, from which these obnoxious pests will then emerge. The development stage of eggs in summer lasts only 2-4 days; in autumn, due to cold weather, eggs ripen in 7-12 days.

Caterpillars

In fact, they eat our tomato crop. At this stage, individual representatives of the Shovel family can eat not only the green parts of greenhouse crops or soft tomato fruits. They can handle even tougher crops. Even grain that is stored in storage can be spoiled by these pests. Their ability to eat green shoots of tomatoes, which are poisonous to other insects, is surprising. It takes the caterpillar 2 to 4 weeks to enter the pupal stage. And all this time he tirelessly eats plants.

Scoop pupa

At this stage, insects do not lead active life activities, do not eat plants and do not move; in general, they are not a direct pest of greenhouse crops. Pupae develop in the soil at a shallow depth of about 5 centimeters. If the caterpillar pupated in the summer, then the stage takes 10-15 days, after which a butterfly emerges from the pupa and the cycle repeats again. Several generations can be born in one summer. When cold weather sets in, the pupa does not develop into a butterfly until the next season, that is, it is at this stage that the noctuid overwinters.

Methods for protecting crops from these caterpillars have been developed taking into account their life activity and biological characteristics. Among the basic and preventive measures, it is necessary to highlight the following activities:

Unfortunately, we learn that there are pests in the greenhouse with tomatoes at the stage when it is impossible to apply preventive measures, and time cannot be turned back. For this reason, the only option left is the use of chemicals that poison the caterpillars. It is important to follow safety precautions; they must be written in the instructions or on the packaging.

It will be better if you find pests at the ovary or flowering stage of tomatoes. This will allow you to avoid spraying ripening tomatoes that are almost ready to eat.

Several decades ago, the main pests for any country seedlings were harmless bugs and aphids. Who now eats seedlings, for example, tomatoes? It’s impossible to list them all! Let's start with the most popular:

germ flies;
winter armyworms;
Khrushchi (chafer beetle larvae).

These pests destroy seedlings from the roots, and when there is a young seed in the ground, they start from there.

About the bear

From a scientific point of view, the mole cricket is a tenacious pest that lives in the upper fertile layer of the earth. Does not disdain the roots of any garden crops. Externally, this insect is a centimeter thick and has a rather creepy appearance.

The common mole cricket eats tomato, radish, and carrot seedlings both in the greenhouse and on the plot.

People often ask why the common mole cricket is the most tenacious? The answer is simple: the insect feeds on any plant roots and earthworms, and is capable of flying and swimming. It's scary to think what else she can do. The main habitat is, as mentioned earlier, the upper soil cover.

The mole cricket has the most detrimental effect on any seedlings precisely in those latitudes where the ground does not freeze thoroughly in winter. If the soil has not frozen to groundwater over the winter, then the invasion of this pest is inevitable.

How to resist?

Fighting any pest that eats seedlings in the country is not so easy. You should decide on the ultimate goal: to get rid of pests completely or simply to protect young plants. The difference is significant, because the summer cottages with the greenhouse are not located on the outskirts, which means the presence of at least two neighbors. By destroying or repelling any pests in your area, you will make their activity in the neighborhood more active.

We come to the conclusion that the fight is pointless, but protecting tomatoes and other seedlings in the greenhouse is mandatory.

You can also reduce the influx of unwanted insects through preventive work. It is enough to know what attracts the same mole crickets. It is known for sure that this pest loves boards, rotting logs, high humidity and compost pits.

So, the mole cricket eats seedlings in the greenhouse from year to year. It is much easier to protect the individual roots of the same tomatoes, but processing beds with carrots, beets and arable land with potatoes is a little more difficult.

Root protection with plastic. It is most practical to make a barrier from 5-liter drinking water containers. To do this, you need to cut off the top and bottom, and plant one root in the resulting cylinder. The edges of the cylinder should protrude a few centimeters. This is how you get protection without chemicals, which will 100% protect against the destruction of the root system.
Conditions in the greenhouse. For greenhouse tomatoes, protection is arranged differently. The soil in the greenhouse (greenhouse) is much warmer, so the mole cricket tends to move to warmer soil in cool times. Of course, you can’t completely remove it, but you can reduce the amount of mole crickets using a container of water. A glass jar is buried in the ground at the same level as the ground surface, and the top is covered with a heavy object, leaving a small gap. At twilight, mole cricket individuals strive for liquid; in those places where their concentration is maximum, the jars can be completely filled within a day.
Insecticide. To protect seedlings, Medvetox or a similar drug for combating mole crickets is suitable. The effect of any product is noticeable. Another popular method is to protect tomato seedlings in a greenhouse by placing small egg shells in the holes. Both fertilization and preventative pest control.

For each of the plants there are caterpillars of matching color, which are not so easy to see from afar. The larva of the winter cutworm eats potato tops, beet leaves, onions, cereals, corn leaves and tomato seedlings.

During the day, the larvae hide from direct sunlight, but at dusk they begin to eat.

The results of the life activity of the larvae are very similar to the traces of the mole cricket, because the damage is caused precisely from the root. Peak activity of growing cutworms occurs in mid-summer. However, “late” individuals have already appeared, specializing in winter crops.

In order not to use chemical compounds once again, experienced gardeners dig up the area to the depth of a spade bayonet during the maturation of the offspring of the winter butterfly. As a result, the brood does not have time to grow.

It is very easy to catch caterpillars with a container containing a drink - a sweet liquid or syrup. Beer, compote, mash or kvass will do.

Khrushchev, or May beetle larva

Khrushchev begins to feed on humus and ends with the root system. Moreover, there is no effective method of combating the larva of the cockchafer. It is more convenient to do this manually, to get rid of the pest by digging, otherwise the growing larva of the cockchafer eats the roots at the maturation stage. The presence of fresh manure will also provoke a higher concentration of larvae.

It is necessary to use rotted manure (which has lain for more than 1 year), and even this composition should be checked for the presence of beetles.

Fungal infection

Tomatoes are also characterized by fungal diseases, which inexperienced gardeners often confuse with the manifestations of pest activity.

Late blight

The most common disease is late blight, or late blight. This is a fungal disease that occurs in any nightshade under unfavorable conditions. The fungus is active in conditions of high humidity with temperature changes at night. Simply put, frosts (late blight) in an ordinary greenhouse will inevitably occur. Dense plantings and excessive liming of the soil also contribute to the development of the disease.

How is this possible? Fungal spores accumulate on the walls of the greenhouse, and with heavy condensation they fall into the soil. Therefore, greenhouses are most often left in ventilation mode. Experienced gardeners also monitor the humidity level: the norm for this indicator is no more than 75%.

Tomato seedlings in a greenhouse are treated against mold with kefir, vitriol or garlic tincture. Moreover, you can use kefir every weekend: one packet is diluted in a bucket of water. Garlic is used less often in tincture, but this liquid is more effective with one gram of potassium permanganate. It is not recommended to store these solutions for some time, otherwise the phytoncides will erode. To combat mold, solutions can be used one at a time.

Anthracnose.

Diagnosed as a seedling disease caused by a fungus. Seeds and seedlings with this disease develop poorly, the plants do not bear fruit, dying during the growth process.

It also occurs from high humidity, but only affects weak seedlings. What to do in this case? Having discovered a hint of a black leg, it is necessary to treat the plant with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or plant it further away. Recommended preparations: “Baktofit”, “Fitolavin”.

Eats young plants. “Cuts” seedlings both in the greenhouse and in the open ground. The pest has long been known, so there are a lot of methods to combat it. Don’t forget about preventive maintenance by cleaning your garden for the winter. Pests can overwinter in dried stems, which is why in the fall they burn all the tops, leaves and branches. Various decoctions of medicinal herbs, for example chamomile or yarrow, also help well.

Conclusion

Of course, the easiest way is to resort to chemistry, but experienced summer residents practice this method only in extreme, catastrophic cases. Only where there is no alternative, concentrates are used to combat annoying pests.

Caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse are a real scourge, because they not only damage the leaves of the plant, leaving unsightly holes, but also eat the fruits of the tomatoes, which is absolutely no good. Most often, tomato cutworm caterpillars infest tomatoes in greenhouses. They are quite large and long (more than 20 cm), green with 3 light green stripes located along the body. These cutworms love to eat not only tomatoes, but also bell peppers, eggplants, cabbage, beets, onions and other crops.

Pests develop from the beginning of the summer month, when the pupae turn into butterflies, and they begin to lay eggs a few days later on the stems and leaves of plants. The eggs subsequently hatch into caterpillars, which turn into adults a few weeks after hatching. First, these insects damage the leaves of tomatoes, then they get close to the buds and flowers, and later they begin to eat the fruits themselves.

Pests can enter the greenhouse in only one way - by flying through a window that is open for ventilation. This can be prevented by hanging protective nets on windows and doors. You can also carry out a number of comprehensive measures that will help protect plants from insects:

It is necessary to regularly destroy weeds, starting in the spring. This will reduce the breeding ground for caterpillars and butterflies.
Before planting, the soil must be treated with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate to destroy pests in the soil. Butterfly larvae tolerate frost well while in the soil, so they can only be expelled by cultivating the soil.
Regularly inspect greenhouses during the period when seedlings begin to flower, and spray tomatoes with Citcor and Decis preparations.
Repeated spraying should be carried out after 1 week to destroy those pests that did not have time to emerge from the eggs at the time of the first treatment.
Further processing is carried out only with the help of biological preparations, since during the ripening period chemicals can harm the plants.
It is necessary to ensure that the caterpillars do not grow larger, since it is much more difficult to fight them when they get stronger and gain an impressive size.
After harvesting, it is necessary to destroy all plant debris that was damaged by insects. All soil must be thoroughly dug up, and in the summer, during seasonal maintenance, the beds must be well loosened.

Tomatoes can be treated against pests with special means when planting in seedlings. The drug “Prestige”, sold in a syringe, has proven itself well. Before placing the plants, they must be dipped in the diluted product for 30 minutes, and then placed in the prepared holes. This drug helps protect tomatoes from cutworms and Colorado potato beetles for the entire season, and most often no additional treatment of the plant is required.

How to fight whitefly caterpillars (video)

Folk remedies for protecting tomatoes from caterpillars

It happens that people encounter caterpillars that spoil the leaves and fruits of tomatoes when chemical treatment is unacceptable. In this case, you can use folk remedies that gardeners often use to combat uninvited guests. Mustard, garlic, potato tops, salt, and herbal infusions have proven themselves to be quite good.

After it germinates, the beds must be carefully dug up and prepared seeds or tomato seedlings must be placed there. From above, you can spray the plants with dry mustard diluted in water, making a not very concentrated solution.

You can plant celery between the tomato beds. It is believed that the smell of this plant will repel pests and prevent them from destroying the crop. Coriander has similar properties. But if tomatoes are extensively damaged by caterpillars, these plants will not save.

You can also take herbs celandine, wormwood, shag, tobacco (about 500 g) and 250 g of garlic feathers or plant cloves. The mixture must be poured into 11 liters of hot water and left for at least 24 hours, after which the finished infusion must be strained and 0.5 bars of laundry soap added to it. This mixture needs to be sprayed on the crop both to control pests and to prevent their occurrence.

Potato tops help against caterpillars. To prepare the infusion, the tops should be filled with hot water in a ratio of 1/10. After the mixture has infused, you need to strain it and add laundry soap. You can also spray roses and currants against ticks with this product.

Garlic arrows, if there are large quantities of them, can be filled with water and left for 1 week for the mixture to ferment. After this, you need to strain it, dilute it with water 1/10 and spray the entire crop, which has become food for cutworm caterpillars.

A solution of water and salt helps control pests on tomatoes.

To prepare it, salt must be diluted in warm water, and then sprayed on the crop. Salt corrodes the delicate body of the caterpillars, and they die, and the tomatoes grow further without damage by insects.

Fighting caterpillars (video)

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Similar articles5. Remember that the caterpillar is easy to kill with drugs at a young age. When it grows up to five centimeters or more, it is not so easy to kill it with poisons.

Scoops - who are they and what is their harm?

Why can't she be defeated?

Effective means against this pest are some ammonia fertilizers, the use of ash, chalk or lime, as well as the removal of wheatgrass from the area, the roots of which the wireworm feeds on.

"Tsitkor";
One of the most dangerous pests for tomatoes is the mole cricket - an insect with small elytra and powerful digging paws, with which it makes deep nests and lays a large number of eggs there. The pest lives in the soil and therefore gnaws mainly on the roots and lower part of the stems of tomatoes.

Various methods are used to combat this pest:

Potato scoop

All of these measures are really very good. But, nevertheless, experts are developing new ways to combat this harmful insect, since every year the armyworm adapts to existing drugs.

But fortunately, there are methods to combat this insect:

Eggs are laid in small groups on the leaves of weeds, sometimes just on the soil. The viability of the caterpillars occurs within a week.

How to destroy

Both species are active only at night. Both butterflies and larvae hide during the day and remain in a stationary phase until dark. Let's take a closer look at each pest separately.

exclamation scoop

Back in 1969, the moth was brought to the American continent for industrial purposes for breeding silkworms. But attempts to develop this area failed, and the delivered insect eventually became a major pest in most of the United States and Canada.

6. Be sure to destroy in the fall all plant debris and fruits damaged by the cotton bollworm, and thoroughly dig up the area occupied by nightshade vegetable crops in order to reduce the number of wintering pupae. In the summer, be sure to carry out loosening, preferably with a cultivator between the rows - this way you will destroy many hidden “partisans.”

To understand how to cope with a pest, you need to know its biology. The armyworm overwinters in the soil in the pupal phase. In early June, butterflies hatch from the pupae, and after 3-4 days they lay scattered pale yellow eggs on the leaves, stems and other parts of tomatoes or other cultivated plants. Depending on the temperature, the caterpillars can hatch as early as the third day. The development of the caterpillar lasts from 13 to 22 days. First they damage leaves, buds, and flowers. They cause especially great harm to tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants by penetrating into their fruits. In beans, they eat the leaves and seeds in the beans; in corn, they eat the cob. What makes the fight more difficult is that usually the emergence of bollworm moths lasts for a month or more. Therefore, the appearance of one generation subsequently overlaps with another, and summer continues without interruption until October - until frost kills the tomatoes.

It is important to remember that tomatoes in a greenhouse cannot be protected from pests using one method - comprehensive measures to prevent harmful insects from causing damage to tomatoes are the most effective.

"Leptotsid";
There are several ways to deal with mole crickets - you can try to either destroy it or expel it from the site. To repel insects, stretched strips of fabric soaked in kerosene are used, since its smell repels the creature. Vinegar or ammonia are also suitable for these purposes. Do not forget that over time the smell disappears and the fabric should be replaced. Another way is to place chrysanthemum branches next to the tomatoes: the mole cricket does not like this plant, and therefore is highly likely to leave the area.

Cabbage scoop

Catching butterflies with bait.

One of the most popular pests that affects both root crops and plants that bear fruit on the surface is the common cutworm. Potatoes, tomatoes, rhubarb and about three dozen other plants that are affected by this type of pest. The butterfly has a bright and two-color wing color of rusty yellow and brownish purple. Its caterpillar is large in size, reaching up to 0.5 cm, and has a yellow, sometimes off-white color.

How to destroy?

To avoid damage to the crop by the armyworm, early planting of seedlings is recommended.

At first they lead an open lifestyle, and then they hide, but with the onset of darkness they crawl out for reinforcements. Young insects gnaw out the juicy green leaves of plants right down to the veins, then bite into root crops, roots, and eat embryos and seed sprouts right in the soil. During the summer period, only one generation of this pest manages to reproduce.
This insect breeds on ordinary non-chernozem soil. This species leads to colossal yield losses of potatoes, onions, rhubarb, sorrel and other plants. I would especially like to note the breeding of cutworms on tomatoes. Its appearance on tomato plantations is very common and leads to almost 100% yield loss. A butterfly of this species is characterized by large grayish-yellow wings with a red or brown tint. Its caterpillar is bright yellow or red in color with a longitudinal stripe on its back and reaches a size of half a centimeter.
Every year new methods of dealing with this problem appear. Similar pests include the cutworm, which causes significant harm to gardeners every year.
Electronic newspaper: "economy"
How to fight the armyworm
It’s interesting that pests’ tastes change noticeably. So, in recent years, Colorado has begun to avoid planting tomatoes and even eggplants.

"Decis".

Heart owl

Another fairly effective way is to create manure traps in a greenhouse with tomatoes: since the mole cricket loves manured soil, you can make holes with humus for it, and insects are highly likely to concentrate in them.

Collecting caterpillars during harvest.

Eggs successfully survive winter at the base of plants, as well as at elderberry bushes. Young caterpillars in the active phase are especially dangerous. They invade the stems and gnaw them from the inside. Such plants no longer have a chance to recover; they break and simply dry out. At the beginning of summer, mature caterpillars descend along the passages made in the stems and gnaw holes for the butterflies to emerge, after which they successfully pupate. One plant can be affected simultaneously by several caterpillars.

Cutworm

As an option, collect caterpillars and eggs of the pest by hand.

Methods of dealing with the exclamation scoop are as follows:
The laid eggs of the potato cutworm successfully survive the winter, and already in May they begin their revival.

How to destroy?

This family has about 100 species. They are butterflies of various colors - gray, brown, often dark. Cutworm butterflies do absolutely no harm to the plant, since they feed exclusively on their nectar. But their offspring - caterpillars, eat everything that gets in their way.

1. It is necessary to regularly destroy weeds, starting in spring, to reduce the food base of butterflies and caterpillars.

All of them are quite effective against cutworms, but they need to be applied at the right time: in early June, when tomato fruit sets. In addition, it is recommended to do this systematically - be sure to re-spray after a week. By the time tomatoes ripen, the use of insecticides is not recommended; it is better to use biological agents, also several times, and do not delay it. In addition, be sure to remove damaged fruits, stems and leaves of tomatoes from the area in order to get rid of the pupae that will overwinter in them.

And after September, when the cold weather sets in, you just need to dig them up, and then lay them on the ground in a thin layer, and the mole crickets will die from the cold.

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Who eats tomatoes in the greenhouse / Caterpillars eat tomato fruits, photos and videos

Destruction of all weeds, especially nettles, quinoa, and white goosefoot, on which the armyworm especially likes to lay its eggs.

Medvedka

The methods used to combat this cutworm are the same as those used to destroy the potato cutworm.

Foliar feeding of plants with potassium chloride and superphosphate.

Careful destruction of all weeds that serve as food for young caterpillars;

The initial food for young caterpillars are leaves and stems of cereals. Already adult insects move to larger plants, damaging the stems and root system in their path. The period of transformation of caterpillars into pupae takes place at the beginning of summer directly in the soil near the affected plants. The mature adult butterflies fly out and lay new eggs on wild plants such as timothy and wheatgrass until mid-autumn. Eggs can also be laid on potato and rhubarb leaves. This species reproduces only one generation.

Scoop

Depending on their feeding method, these insects were divided into two groups:

They were taken to some kind of laboratory and immediately destroyed! The control sample devoured two caterpillars and one laboratory assistant.

2. Observe the timing of chemical treatments: inspect the beds with tomatoes during the period of mass flowering and at the beginning of fruit set; If eggs or caterpillars are found, spray with one of the following drugs: Citcor, Decis, Inta-Vir, Iskra, Leptotsid, Kinmiks, Confidor.

At one time, the biggest concern in tomato plots was the potato aphid. Now the main enemy of tomatoes is the cotton bollworm, which makes holes in the fruit. Moreover, the caterpillars themselves act like real guerrillas - they eat fruits at night, and in the morning they hide in the soil at the base of the bushes, where they can be found by carefully raking the soil. This tactic explains the enormous harm - one caterpillar can make holes in almost all the fruits on the bush, which immediately rot!
Despite the fact that the wireworm is a beetle, the main damage to vegetable crops, including tomatoes, is caused by its larvae, which are more like caterpillars or worms. The period of their formation into adults is up to two years, and during this time they can cause serious damage to tomatoes in a greenhouse.
Recently, the cutworm caterpillar has been significantly damaging the tomato crop in the greenhouse. This is a rather voracious pest, the beginning of the development cycle of which coincides with the ovary of tomato fruits, so its presence on the site can be determined by the perforated and rotten tomato fruits, which it actively eats.

Spraying with compounds used to destroy cabbage cutworm.

Wireworm

The most dangerous for almost all cultivated crops is the fall armyworm. It is widespread throughout almost the entire territory of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The list of plants affected by it includes about 40 crops. But most of all she prefers rutabaga, tomatoes, cabbage and radishes. The butterfly has bicolor wings of brown and red with two spots of yellow and gray on the surface. Caterpillars come in both green and brown colors.

A very effective method of spraying cabbage with insecticidal infusions based on burdock, wormwood, and potato tops.

Treatment of crops with lepidocide solution. It is necessary to dilute 2-3 grams of the substance in 1 liter of water.

Methods of combating this pest are the destruction of all plant residues after harvesting, as well as the disposal of all weeds belonging to cereal varieties. Such measures are often used to destroy many other pests.

Gnawing armyworm feeding on underground fruits of plants. Its species include: potato, exclamation and winter cutworms.

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How to deal with cutworms, or who makes holes in tomatoes

I'll ask my dad... he knows

3. Be sure to repeat spraying with one of the above-mentioned insecticides after 7 days, since the hatching period of the caterpillars is extended, and the waiting period must be observed.

Broad orientation
It is quite difficult to get rid of wireworms, and therefore comprehensive measures should be used to combat it. First of all, you need to plant a special plant among the tomatoes that is incompatible with the pest. White mustard or radish are suitable for these purposes; they can repel insects from tomatoes. On the other hand, you can plant barley or oats, which the wireworm actively gnaws. After it infects these crops, they will need to be removed from the plantation and destroyed, since they will contain a lot of larvae.

The fight against the caterpillar is difficult because individuals appear continuously and in large numbers. At the caterpillar stage, they can live up to 22 days, so even a small number of them can cause significant damage. Pest populations usually die in September, when the first cold weather sets in.
All these measures to combat the armyworm are very effective, the main thing is that they must be carried out in a timely manner and according to instructions. Then the plants will be healthy and give you a wonderful harvest.

The garden cutworm can produce two generations in the southern regions and one in the northern regions. Corn, millet, and sugar beets are the first crops that young caterpillars begin to infect. Then they move to cereals and melons.

Not a single application of lepidocide, phytoverm 5 days before the start of harvest.

Another harmful insect, widespread almost everywhere, is the cabbage cutworm. Her preference is the following crops: cabbage, peas, beets, lettuce and onions. This is a butterfly that has brown wings with a kidney-shaped gray spot on the surface. Initially, its caterpillar has a lush green color, then it changes to a brown-brown shade with lines on the back.
The screech owl reproduces very successfully and is distributed almost everywhere. This species attacks the root crops of the crop. The insect got its name due to the presence of a coloration in the form of an exclamation mark on the surface of the wings. The caterpillar has a gray-brown color with a yellowish tint and reaches a size of half a centimeter. Mature caterpillars tolerate cold well and overwinter in the soil at a depth of about 30 cm, where the pupation process occurs in the spring.
The leaf-eating armyworm eats fruits and plants located on the surface of the earth and leads a terrestrial lifestyle. This species includes: alfalfa, cabbage and garden cutworm.
try to eat such a bastard)))
4. During the period of ripening and harvesting, only biological preparations can and should be used. Carry out at least two or three treatments at weekly intervals.
It’s hard to say what caused the “change of orientation” of this scoop. Another thing is that its caterpillars do not have much choice: the appearance of butterflies coincides with the flowering of tomatoes, and the caterpillars emerge just when a green ovary appears, which will quickly begin to ripen as soon as holes are made in it. However, the cotton bollworm is a real indiscriminate pest. He eats more than 120 types of crops: in addition to tomatoes and cotton - peppers, eggplants, beans, sunflowers, even tobacco and many others. This year, cutworm caterpillars also tried to eat corn cobs, despite frequent treatments. In particular, they treated the beetle, which stuck to the panicles and spoiled the stigmas of the cobs. But then, during the collection, they discovered a lot of caterpillars, which from the side of the stigmas were biting into the cobs, but, never reaching the grain, they died from the action of the Regent and Confidor.
In addition to those described above, measures to mechanically destroy the pest can be effective: piles of manure are placed between the tomato beds, in which the wireworm larvae feel comfortable, and in September these piles are burned, and thus the insect is destroyed. In addition, after harvesting, you can dig up the soil to a depth of twenty centimeters, and the larvae lying in it will die from the cold.

The first and simplest measure to reduce the number of cutworm caterpillars will be timely removal of weeds from the greenhouse, as this will limit their feeding. Next, the tomatoes should be subjected to chemical treatment. The following drugs are suitable for this:

Caterpillars have gotten into the habit of eating tomatoes - is there a type of tomato that eats caterpillars?

noreturn

You can determine who is eating tomatoes in a greenhouse by the nature of the damage to the vegetables.

Gardeners go to great lengths to get a bountiful and high-quality harvest of tomatoes: they build greenhouses, prune, tie, fertilize and spray. And so, when it seems that the cherished harvest is just around the corner, it turns out that someone has already tried them. Which insects eat tomatoes in the greenhouse and how to deal with it - let's figure it out together.

What caterpillars eat tomatoes in a greenhouse?

So, which insect is capable of damaging not only the roots and green parts of tomatoes, but also their fruits? The leading place among tomato lovers is occupied by cotton bollworm caterpillars, which eat tomatoes both in greenhouses and in open ground. The fight against the cotton bollworm is also complicated by the fact that it prefers to operate under the cover of night, and during the day it hides in the soil at the base of the bushes. In addition, bollworm reproduction occurs at almost cosmic speed and continues throughout the summer.

Methods for controlling tomato pests in a greenhouse

At the first signs of damage to tomatoes in a greenhouse by the cotton bollworm, it is necessary to begin active measures to destroy this pest. The method of combating it includes the removal of all weeds in order to deprive butterflies and caterpillars of their nutritional base, deep loosening and digging of the soil, and manual collection of caterpillars. In addition, spraying tomatoes with the biological preparation “Strela” also gives good results, which must be carried out twice at weekly intervals. If the cutworm is found on tomatoes during flowering or fruit set, then stronger ones can be used.