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  • From: Road's End Farm <organic87 AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tomato Fruitworms and other worms
  • Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2010 08:57:07 -0400


On Jul 8, 2010, at 12:10 AM, Jay Sleichter wrote:

All of a sudden I am seeing Tomato Fruitworms and other worms eating my tomatoes and even my Cherry Tomatoes!  I have scouted for eggs and I can't find any.  Will spraying with Bt help take care of them?  Is there something that is better?

My question about spraying them is this. There is so much foliage, how much will I need to spray to ensure good coverage?

I have had one or two before, but this year it is alot worse.  In the past they ate a few and I never had anymore problems. This year I am seeing more damage and I hope it does not get out of hand.

Also, is broccoli and cauliflower a "gateway" crop?  A "gateway" meaning that when you plant these crops they bring in more bugs, worms and moths that cause more problems? I didn't have these problems when I didn't grow these crops.


Jay

Jay's Jellies, Produce and More
Clay Center, Kansas
www.jaysjellies.com
http://highfarming.blogspot.com/


For the most part, in my experience, the insects attacking brassicas are not the same as insects attacking solanacea; so I doubt that adding the brassicas is causing your problem. (One site I found said that tomato fruitworm also likes corn, however.)

Aromatic herbs planted in or near the brassicas may help there, but is unlikely to provide complete defense (mostly they host beneficials, I think.)

We plant marigold among the tomatoes and have never had a fruitworm or tomato hornworm problem in the tomatoes; but I'm not sure whether it's the marigolds or some other factor doing the job.

As I've never had a tomato fruitworm problem, I don't know much about them; but I did find some info here:


apparently there are some beneficials available (some of which may already be present -- if some of the fruitworm eggs are parasitized, they'll turn black, don't spray those!), or for faster control you could use BT or Spinosad. (Note the general pesticide list at the bottom of the page linked above is for California; I don't know whether everything on there is labeled for use in Kansas.) As far as spraying rates, I'd read the label on whatever you use and go by that -- you can usually find labels online before ordering, or check with the company you're ordering from as to how much area of tomato plants a given amount will cover.


-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale






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