How to deal with caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse

The death of tomatoes from caterpillars is a problem familiar to many gardeners. Most often, plantings are affected by the tomato scoop, the peak of which occurs in mid-summer. In just 20 days in the caterpillar stage, this pest can leave the farmer without a crop.

Prevention measures will help prevent the appearance of scoops in the beds. If it was not possible to protect the landings from defeat, they use "heavy artillery" - contact-intestinal insecticides. Along with them, folk remedies and entomophages (microscopic insects) are used. They are equally effective in destroying the pest and allow you to collect an environmentally friendly product.

How to process tomatoes from caterpillars in a greenhouse? What are the most effective drugs? You will receive detailed answers to these and other questions in the article.

Caterpillars on tomatoes and external manifestations of infection

The appearance of an unsightly butterfly on tomato bushes in early summer, similar to a large moth, should immediately alert. During this period, they are not dangerous, they feed only on nectar and lay eggs. It is the caterpillar that causes harm to the plant.

Fertility of the scoop is high... During the season, the adult lays from 500 to 1000 eggs. In warm weather, eggs ripen in 5 days, in cool weather - in 10.

Caterpillar development period - 20 days... All this time she gnaws the stems, leaves and fruits of tomatoes. Then the caterpillar goes into the ground, turns into a pupa and hibernates in the ground until the next season.

Caradrina or tomato scoop at the stage of a butterfly has a wingspan of up to 3.5 cm. The front pair of wings is gray-brown in color, the back one is with a pink bloom. Ornament with strokes, zigzags and stripes.

Track appearance:

• large body - 25-30 cm in length;
• color - from green to brown;
• on the back - thin longitudinal stripes with an edge;
• on the sides - dark wide stripes, and under them - thinner, yellow;
• the abdomen is light with white spots.

Pest activity begins at night: caterpillars gnaw holes in greenery and fruits, and in the morning they hide under the ground, to a depth of 5 cm.

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Reasons for the appearance

The main reasons for the appearance of scoops on tomatoes:

• insufficient tillage after harvest;
• non-compliance with the principle of crop rotation;
• non-compliance with the rules of agricultural technology (loosening, weeding);
• the use of ineffective means for pest control during the period of their activity (the remaining caterpillars go underground for wintering).

The main ways to fight

To combat the tomato scoop, use:

• manual collection of caterpillars;
• spraying with chemicals;
• processing with folk remedies;
• biological method.

Chemicals

How to deal with green caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse? Chemical treatment is the most effective method pest control. Spraying is carried out taking into account the fact that pesticides are removed from the fruit within 20-30 days. Therefore, before applying the chemicals, calculate the estimated start date of the harvest.

Attention! Gloves are used to protect the skin, respirators are used for the respiratory organs.

List of effective remedies:

1. "Inta-Vir" - contact-intestinal insecticide. The substance cypermethrin destroys butterflies and caterpillars. The protective effect lasts up to 15 days. 1 table is dissolved in 10 liters of water, used during the growing season of tomatoes.
2. "Decis Profi" - a fast-acting contact-intestinal insecticide. It belongs to the class of pesticides that are moderately hazardous to humans. Contains deltamethrin substance. For processing 100 m² in 5 l of water dissolve 0.5 g of the substance. The product is used before flowering. The protection period is 10-15 days.
3. "Avant" - insecticide of moderate hazard class for humans. Contains the substance indoxacarb. Resistant to rain, effectively destroys eggs and caterpillars. The consumption rate per 1 ha is 200-300 ml. The tool is used during the growing season no more than two times.
4. "Arrivo" - contact-intestinal insecticide. Shows high efficiency against shovel tracks at low consumption rates. Consumption per hectare - 240-320 ml. Processing - one-time, during the growing season.
5. "Aktara" - systemic insecticide of contact-intestinal action. The active ingredient is thiamethoxam. Destroys the caterpillar during the feeding phase. In 10 liters of water, dissolve 4 g of powder for irrigation or 1.2 g for spraying.
6. "Tanrek" - systemic insecticide of contact-intestinal action. The active ingredient is imidacloprid. The protection period is 30 days. The drug can be combined with Fitosporin. The product is used for spraying (5 ml per 10 l of water).
7. Fitoverm - enteric-contact insectoacaricide. Irrigation is carried out twice during the entire growing season. Dissolve 1 ml of the preparation in 10 l of water. The protection period in the greenhouse is up to 20 days, in the garden - up to 15 days.

Important! It is recommended that you rotate the scoop eradication chemicals from season to season. The pest is highly resistant to such agents. What worked this year will not work the next.

Folk remedies

Folk remedies are effective in detecting the first pests... Unfortunately, with a massive defeat, they do not bring results.

Folk remedies recipes:

1. Pour a bunch of chopped garlic arrows or a head of garlic with 1 liter of hot water and leave for 3-4 days. Bring the product to a volume of 10 liters and use it for treating bushes twice a month.
2. Pour 300 g of tobacco dust with 10 liters of boiling water and leave for 24 hours. Apply to sprinkle tomatoes every two weeks.
3. Fill the galvanized barrel with chopped bird cherry and pour boiling water to the top. Insist for a day, use for spraying bushes and watering the soil.
4. Pour a kilogram of fresh wormwood with 3 liters of water and boil for half an hour, then bring the volume to 10 liters and irrigate the bushes twice with an interval of two weeks.
5. Fill a 10 liter bucket with burdock, chamomile, dope, yarrow, celandine, potato tops (optional) and fill it with water. Insist for four days and apply to irrigate the bushes once every two weeks.

Stir shavings of laundry or tar soap into each of the solutions. For a bucket of 10 l - 30-50 g.

Saline is effective against scoops... Dissolve 2 tbsp in 10 liters of water. l. rock salt and water the bushes abundantly.

Read also:

Saving the tomato crop - tomato pests

Saving tomatoes from phytophthora

How to kill whitefly on tomatoes

Biological methods of control

What if the caterpillars are eating tomatoes in the greenhouse? They use their natural enemies to fight them.... Microscopic Trichogramma insects lay their eggs inside scoop eggs. Damaged cocoons turn black after 2-3 days. The method is used twice a season.

Caterpillar parasite poach provides significant assistance in the fight against the scoop. The female insect pierces the caterpillar's skin, injects a toxin that destroys the digestive system.

Important! The use of entomophages is a guarantee of environmentally friendly products. The biological method is used when growing tomatoes on an industrial scale.

How to prevent infection

Prevention measures:

• the soil is dug up in the fall by the method of winter plowing, without breaking earth clods (the pupae are on the surface and freeze);
• apply winter watering of the soil;
• remove plant residues with roots;
• in the spring, 15 cm of soil is removed and replaced with a new one;
• the place of planting of tomato bushes is treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water;
• the beds are weeded, removing weeds with roots;
• plantings are periodically thinned out, the lower leaves are removed;
• plants are watered strictly at the root in the morning;
• to prevent scoops from entering the greenhouse, mosquito nets are installed on the doors and vents;
• they regularly process the bushes with folk remedies.

Plants that repel the scoop

Celery is planted in the area between the tomatoes... The smell of the plant scares away butterflies. Similar properties are possessed by: coriander, white mustard, calendula, basil, marigolds, geranium, wormwood, sage, thyme.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, many farmers find out about the infection of tomatoes by scoop caterpillars when it is too late to apply preventive measures. It remains to arm yourself with chemicals. The disadvantages of this method are that the processing of plants is completed 20-30 days before harvesting, the caterpillars have time to develop resistance to the drug.

Folk remedies make it possible to obtain environmentally friendly products, but do not have the expected effect in case of mass infection. The use of entomophages (microscopic insects) is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to destroy the pest and is suitable for farmers who grow tomatoes on an industrial scale.

The best solution to the problem is timely prevention: inspection of the bushes, removal of the topsoil, disinfection with potassium permanganate, observance of crop rotation and the rules of tomato agricultural technology.