Content
There are several ways to get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes. You should first study the species of the pest and the characteristics of its life activity.
What caterpillars eat tomatoes?
Tomato caterpillars can differ in color, size and timing of appearance. Basically, damage to crops in open ground and in greenhouses is caused by two types:
- Scoop. The adult insect is a brown-gray moth-like butterfly, only up to 4.5 cm in length. The pest has a pattern of numerous stripes and dots on its wings. The cutworm lays eggs on the leaves and peduncles of tomato, from which up to 500 larvae can hatch during the season. Caterpillars have a green, brown or almost black color, uniform or with an ornament on the back.
Cutworm caterpillars reach no more than 5 cm in length
- Tomato moth.The pest reaches 7 mm in length, has a gray-brown color and dark spots on the wings. Lays eggs on the leaves of tomatoes and other nightshade crops. The larvae eat away the tissues of the plates and can also penetrate into ripening fruits. They develop best at a temperature of 30-35 °C. Tomato moth caterpillars are yellow or yellow-green, with a black stripe at the back of the head. They reach about 9 mm in length.
The tomato moth can produce up to 15 generations of larvae per year
Caterpillars cause not only direct, but also indirect damage to tomatoes. Pests often become carriers of infectious and viral diseases.
Reasons for appearance
Theoretically, caterpillars can appear on the leaves of any tomatoes in the ground and in the greenhouse. But some factors increase the likelihood of plantings becoming infected with pests. The most common insect attacks on tomatoes are:
- in warm and humid weather during periods of heavy rain;
- with a large number of weeds in open ground or in a greenhouse;
- with increased soil acidity.
The likelihood of caterpillars appearing on tomato leaves increases if there are beds with zucchini or eggplants, as well as fruit trees nearby.
Signs of occurrence
Butterfly caterpillars are most active at night, so they can be quite difficult to spot in daylight. But characteristic symptoms help to recognize the presence of a pest:
- deformation and fading of plates;
- white, yellowish, brown or black spots on leaves;
- holes with jagged edges on the plates and buds of tomato bushes;
- damage to ripening fruits;
- slow development of tomato bushes.
The caterpillars are small in size, but it is quite possible to see them with the naked eye. You need to look at the underside of the leaf blades - usually pests settle there.
How and with what to treat tomatoes against caterpillars
There are several ways to get rid of green caterpillars on tomatoes. Insects are removed with chemicals and homemade preparations. What exactly is best to use depends on the degree of damage to the bushes.
Chemicals
If insects have spread heavily throughout the plantings, chemicals are the best way to get rid of them. Such drugs quickly eliminate caterpillars and also prevent the return of pests.
Decis
The main active ingredient in the drug is deltamethrin, which penetrates insect tissue through the digestive system. The compound paralyzes the nervous system of pests, which quickly leads to death.
To get rid of caterpillars, you need to prepare a solution of 1 liter of lukewarm water and 100 ml of the drug. Tomato bushes are sprayed in dry, sunny weather; they try to treat the leaves as evenly as possible.
To get rid of pests, when spraying tomatoes with Decis per 100 m2, you need to spend about 5 liters of solution
Aktara
A universal insecticide helps get rid of caterpillars, aphids and whiteflies on tomatoes. The main active ingredient in the composition is thiamethoxam. When sprayed, the drug penetrates the leaves of tomatoes, and then enters the pest’s body and paralyzes the functioning of the nervous system.The insect loses the opportunity to feed and dies within 24 hours.
To treat tomatoes against caterpillars, you need to dilute 1.4 g of the chemical in a bucket of water and spray the solution over the bushes. Spraying tomatoes can be carried out several times a season at intervals of 2-3 weeks.
Aktara can be used for root watering, in which case the drug will provide protection against insects for up to three months
Organic preparations
You can also get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes using organic preparations. They contain fungi that are toxic to insects but harmless to humans. Biological products give a good effect in case of moderate damage to plantings by pests.
Lepidocide
The bacterial insecticide has a depressing effect on caterpillars. The drug contains a protein toxin that causes paralysis of the digestive system of pests and leads to the death of insects.
To prepare the solution, mix 20 ml of the product in 2 liters of water. The resulting product is enough to spray 100 m2 planting tomatoes. Treatments are carried out twice per season.
The drug Lepidocid can be used to spray tomatoes five days before harvest.
Fitoverm
For caterpillars on tomatoes in greenhouses and open ground, the drug Fitoverm has a good effect. The product contains aversectin C. When this substance enters the digestive system, it paralyzes the nervous activity of insects, and after a couple of days the pests simply die.
To get rid of parasites, you need to stir about 6 ml of concentrate in a bucket of water. Spraying is carried out three times per season at intervals of 7-14 days.The maximum effect of using the drug becomes noticeable a week after the treatment. Within three days after spraying, the fruits can be collected and eaten.
Fitoverm protects tomato bushes from caterpillars for up to three weeks after treatment
How to get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes using folk remedies
It makes sense to fight caterpillars on tomatoes with folk remedies if the damage to the plantings is minor. In this case, homemade solutions will give a good effect and will not cause any harm to the bushes themselves.
Infusion of potato tops
You can get rid of a small number of caterpillars on tomatoes using an infusion of tops. Make the remedy as follows:
- The leaves are crushed in a volume of 1 kg and poured into a large barrel.
- Pour 10 liters of hot water into the raw material.
- Leave the product under the lid for two days.
- After the period has passed, filter the solution.
- Stir about 1/4 of a bar of laundry soap, crushed on a grater, into the infusion.
The finished product is used to spray tomatoes twice a day - morning and evening. The product is completely harmless to the crop and can be used at any stage of the growing season. Spraying is carried out until the caterpillars are completely eliminated.
Garlic infusion
Garlic helps get rid of green caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse - pests do not like its strong spicy aroma. The following remedy is prepared using fresh cloves:
- Grind the head of the vegetable and pour 1 liter of boiling water into the pulp.
- Leave the solution covered for three days.
- Grate laundry soap.
- Add 50 g of shavings to the garlic infusion.
The drug is used for spraying on tomato leaves in open ground and greenhouses. Treatments are carried out daily until the pests are completely eliminated.
Wormwood decoction
Fragrant wormwood contains substances that repel butterflies, caterpillars and other insects. To spray tomatoes based on grass, make the following preparation:
- Finely tear the wormwood and pour it into a bucket about 1/3 of the total volume.
- Fill the raw material with cold water.
- Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about half an hour.
- Leave covered for two days.
The broth is filtered and used to spray tomato bushes 4-5 times a week. If desired, you can also add soap shavings to the preparation.
You can spray tomatoes against caterpillars in open ground only in calm weather.
Biological methods
You can get rid of caterpillars on tomato bushes using so-called biological methods. For example, the use of natural enemies of insects has a good effect:
- Trichogramma. Small midges lay their own eggs in the clutches of pest butterflies and prevent the caterpillars from hatching. The tomatoes themselves do not suffer in this case, since trichogramma do not feed on greens and fruits. To get rid of parasites, it is necessary to release egg-eating insects onto tomato bushes three times a season.
Trichogramma can effectively combat several dozen species of pests
- Bracons. Small midges settle on the caterpillars of cutworms and tomato moths, pierce the body of the pest with a sharp sting and inject poison that paralyzes the digestive processes. The bracos then lay their own eggs, and the hatching larvae eat the parasite from the inside.
Bracones allow you to get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes within a week on average
Biological methods of controlling caterpillars give a good effect if there are few pests on tomatoes. If the plantings are heavily infested, it is better to use chemicals, otherwise it will not be possible to get rid of the parasites completely.
Plants that repel caterpillars
Some plants with a strong spicy aroma help get rid of caterpillars and prevent their reappearance. In particular, pests are repelled by:
- celery;
- coriander;
- calendula;
- marigold.
To get rid of pests, you can plant the listed herbs around the perimeter of the tomato plot or between the beds. The plants will not only protect the tomatoes from caterpillars, but will also serve as decoration for the garden.
How to deal with caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse
You can get rid of butterfly caterpillars in a greenhouse using the same methods as in open ground. To treat tomato bushes, chemicals and biological agents, homemade preparations and herbs with a strong spicy odor are used.
When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, it is also recommended to use traps. Sticky tapes to prevent flies are hung liberally in the greenhouse or sheets of plywood greased with a sweet solution are placed. To get rid of butterflies and caterpillars, traps should be placed at a low height of about 1 m above the ground.
Prevention measures
Getting rid of parasites on tomatoes can be quite difficult. The main attention should be paid to preventing the appearance of caterpillars:
- water the beds moderately, avoiding drying out and waterlogging of the soil;
- apply balanced fertilizing in a timely manner and control the composition of the soil;
- use only warm, settled water for irrigation;
- Every autumn, dig up the soil on the site - insects often spend the winter in the ground;
- constantly weed and loosen the beds from weeds;
- at the end of the season and at the beginning of spring, water the soil in the garden or greenhouse with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate.
If there are a lot of caterpillars on tomatoes, then with the onset of autumn it is recommended not only to disinfect the soil, but also to completely replace its top layer, about 15 cm thick.
When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse before the onset of winter, you need to treat the walls of the structure with insecticides.
Conclusion
Folk remedies, chemicals and biological preparations help get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes. But first of all, attention should be paid to prevention, since pest control can take a lot of effort.
