What to do if caterpillars are bred in tomatoes - popular ways to combat a pest

Painstaking work of growing seedlings tomato, picking young bushes and replanting plants to a permanent place are reduced to zero pests, which novice gardeners do not even notice. These invisible "enemies" are ordinary caterpillars on tomatoes. From the article you will learn how to properly deal with such a scourge.

What caterpillars eat tomatoes

In situations with spoilage of tomato crops, two representatives of butterflies are "in the lead" - the scoop and the whitefly. Moreover, both types of insects are capable of destroying plantings in 2-3 weeks, if measures are not taken in time. Let's start with a description of these pests so that the gardener can easily recognize the "enemy in the face".

The scoop is a dangerous enemy for novice summer residents. This unattractive butterfly looks like a moth in appearance. The size of the pest does not exceed 45 mm, and the wings are painted brown with an unpretentious ornament of stripes and dots. The insect's fertility is high - a butterfly lays up to 500 larvae during its life.

Attention! The eggs of the scoops are left mainly on the leaves and in the peduncles, attaching the future offspring with a flat edge to the surface of the plant.

Caterpillars develop from the clutch in 10–20 days, which eat the fruits, stem and leaves. Damaged tomatoes are unfit for human consumption, and infected bushes will die over time.

The insidiousness of the scoops is that she conducts her harmful activities at night... For this reason, inexperienced gardeners do not immediately notice alarming signals, and understanding the causes of tomato spoilage comes only after finding holes in the fruits.

Whitefly - small midge with a yellow belly, whose dimensions reach 3 mm. This species of butterflies lives on the leaves of tomatoes, feeding on plant juices. Here the laying of larvae takes place, which subsequently begin to devour the fruits.

In addition to mechanical damage to fruits, whiteflies carry bacterial diseases. The consequence of such an invasion is the deformation of an already ripe fruit and even drying out of the bush.

Causes of pests

Understanding the causes of pests, gardeners talk about a combination of factors. The first signal for daily planting monitoring is warm, humid weather - these are the conditions that are favorable for insect reproduction.

The second reason why caterpillars started up in tomatoes is the proximity to tomato bushes of fruit trees affected by pests and plantings of zucchini, paprika or eggplant. Flowering weeds also become an additional food source for these insects.

Important! Tomato pests are often nocturnal. In the twilight and darkness, it is difficult to spot a small but dangerous enemy.

Both types of insects are more likely to spoil open field plantings. Although the construction of a greenhouse does not guarantee 100% crop protection. The only alternative in such cases is the daily struggle with intruders.

Pest control options

Dealing with the question of how to get rid of caterpillars on tomatoes, gardeners are trying all sorts of moves - advice from neighbors, buying special insecticides, planting pest repelling plants and other effective methods.

Among the funds available to summer residents, the following ways are used:

1. Chemical processing. In this case, you cannot do without the purchase of pesticides to poison the insects.
2. Biological poisoning. Here, "gentle" products are used to treat developing plants.
3. Folk remedies. This option involves the destruction of tracks using time-tested methods.

The choice of a particular approach is determined by personal experience and the current situation. Let's find out in more detail how effective the listed items are, and how to save the landings with minimal damage.

Chemical attack

Let's start with an effective, but not the safest way - treating the garden with pesticides of 1–3 hazard class. Such actions guarantee the death of the insect population. However, it is recommended to treat plants with "heavy" chemistry even at the flowering stage. This point is explained by the timing of removal of harmful substances from the soil and bush, up to 20-30 days.

In the list of similar "working" drugs that have received approving reviews - "Inta-Vir" and "Avant". Both products destroy pests at any stage of development. To poison insects, it is required to first spray the seedlings, and then repeat the procedure after 2 weeks. Tsitkor, Decis, Arrivo and Zeta act in a similar way.

Advice... The use of such "heavy weapons" becomes advisable in case of serious invasions of illegal tomato lovers and only at the initial stage of the development of the bush.

Organic remedies

Now let's move on to the study of the second method of action in a situation where the caterpillars attacked the tomatoes. What to do if the enemy is detected already at the stage of ovary formation? In situations like this, experienced gardeners recommend biological insecticides.

Such substances are marked with the fourth hazard class and give a chance to spray bushes with ripe fruits without consequences. Fitoverm and Lepidotsid, Aktofit and Agrovertin, Admiral and Aktara are removed from plants in a maximum of 15 days. The disadvantage of using this method is the "addiction" of caterpillars to the action of the pesticide.

Good to know... Periodic change of the brand of the selected protective equipment increases the efficiency of the work carried out.

People's experience

Let's move on to methods that have been proven by dozens of generations that are “harmless” to plant and human health. To process tomatoes from caterpillars with folk remedies is affordable and inexpensive, and most importantly, it is no less effective than, for example, using chemicals. However, we note that this path will be effective only if small insect colonies are found.

Ordinary laundry soap comes to the rescue. A strong solution with water in the proportion of a third of a bar per bucket of liquid and regular watering increases the chances of protecting the plants.

The following components will help to enhance the effect of the action:

1. Tobacco... To create a broth, take 300 g of shag and dilute it in a bucket of boiling water. Then we insist the mixture for a day and add a glass to the finished soap solution.
2. Potato tops... The crushed leaves are steamed in a ratio of 1:10, insisted for up to 2 days and rubbed a quarter of a bar of soap into the mixture. Crops should be sprayed with this solution twice a day during morning and evening watering.
3. Garlic... One head of the plant is crushed and filled with a liter of boiling water. We defend the resulting solution for three days and add half a glass to the soapy suspension. It will not be difficult to make such a tool, and the result will pleasantly surprise you.
4. Sagebrush... Tear the grass finely, fill the bucket by a third and fill it with cold water. Then the mixture is boiled for 30 minutes and insisted for 2 days. The effectiveness of the impact on those who like to eat other people's tomatoes is achieved by adding the infusion to the soap mixture in a ratio of 1:10.

In addition to these options, you can spray damaged bushes with a strong saline solution. For three liters of liquid, use a pack of table salt and process the beds.

A jet of ice water will also help clear tomatoes from the invasion of whiteflies. However, watering so "shocking" for a plant is advisable no more than 2 times a week before sunrise.

What plants scare away caterpillars

Experienced gardeners are aware of the beneficial effects of cross-planting multiple crops. This solution is also useful for people who notice that tomatoes eat green caterpillars. What to do to get the maximum result, we will figure it out below.

It is useful to "frame" the perimeter of the tomato plantation with such plants:

• coriander;
• celery;
• calendula.

The smell that blooming "protection" emits, scares away butterflies.

A slightly different effect is created by white mustard planted in early spring. In this case, wait for the appearance of green shoots, which are dug into the soil before planting tomatoes. In this case, the chance that the egg-laying of pests will disappear increases.

Prevention and treatment of tomatoes

It is known that the prevention of the appearance of caterpillars is less expensive than the subsequent painstaking work to correct the situation. For this reason, gardeners are advised to consider in advance a strategy for growing tomatoes.

The firstwhat needs to be done is dig up the soil. In the fall, the earth is dug onto a shovel bayonet, leaving large clods. In the spring, re-cultivation is carried out, but already with subsequent loosening.

Important! If earlier soil contamination by pupae reached a critical value, the top layer of sod is removed by 15 cm, replacing the soil with clean soil.

Second step, allowing you to effectively get rid of the appearance of insects - autumn watering of future beds with a weak solution of potassium permanganate with boiling water. Moreover, the repetition of such a procedure is also appropriate during the spring preparation of the garden.

Third method, able to help newcomers in the battle with the "enemy" - constant weeding of beds. Weed grasses attract the scoop and whitefly, therefore, thorough cleansing of the soil from the roots of harmful plants and loosening the row spacing contributes to the victory of the summer resident.

Another nuance is thinning seedlings. Thickened beds are conducive to the breeding of crop eaters due to the difficulty in processing planted crops.

It is advised to water the plants no later than 5 pm so that excess moisture from the soil has time to evaporate before dusk.

One last thing: do not let the caterpillars hatch out of the clutch. It is necessary to remove large individuals from the plant by hand - even "harsh" chemical exposure will not have the desired effect.

Conclusion

All the painstaking work of growing tomatoes will go to waste if pest control is not started in time. You can deal with uninvited guests in different ways - with the help of chemicals, folk remedies or biological methods.

Purely technical methods will also help in the battle with caterpillars. Planting bushes in a greenhouse, having previously equipped the building with mosquito nets, is easier than removing insects from open plantings. However, only the complex application of the above methods guarantees the gardener complete safety before the invasion of pests. Ripe and rich harvests for you!