kathy

mocking birds/rats

littlehud

My friend had deer eating hers. But they eat the flowers too. I always kid her that she has the best deer salad bar in town.

trupeach1

it is getting worse what ever it is is now eating the leaves and stems starting at the top of the tomato plants and working their way down. they are on a deck about 15 ft above the yard and in containers. i had to buy everything to have a larger garden this year. containers, potting soil the works it cost a small fortune and now something is eating everything. now that the leaves are being eaten as well is that some tell tail sign to anyone of what is eating the plants?

dsb38327

It sounds like a tomatoe worm. Have you ever seen one? It will be the same color as the plant. Rub your fingertips together, having the plant between your fingertips. Go over the whole plant and see if you can find one. Let us know./Regards, Dorothy

trupeach1

how big are they?

QuiltingNinaSue

Sounds like a tomato worm; they start at the top and go down. Check early in the morning, they come out for dew and are on top of the plants. I grap a pair of piers and pinch them and pull them off. Carefully study the plant and see if one stem seems bigger than the others; that may be your tomato worm. My husband relies on my sharp eye to find ours. Good luck.

Elisabrat

Now aren't you in Virginia or somewhere near there now? I would imagine critters. You need a wire fence about 6 feet high around your veggies or you can just kiss them goodbye and enjoy the wildlife from your porch while they chomp chomp chomp. My sis lived in Georgia then in Virginia and they always came a calling. I live in the Sierras and was told that no way would veggies work as well its a local snack bar. I already feed the squirrels and the turkeys and the deer.. the racoons are hitting the back porch looking for swept out kitten kibble, then of course the red fox keeps coming looking for treats too (do not leave your trash outside the door without putting it in a locked can).. the list goes on. I think sometimes seeing the little guys is worth losing the fruit. Next year: what about those tomato plant hangers that you hang upside down off your porch? so they are not ground height? I am going to give them a whirl.. probably just encourage the deer to waltz up my stairs and come stand on the rail and get them anyways. Worth a try! (those worms mentioned earlier are BIG thumb size and green you cant see them til your both looking eye to eye.. ugh)

trupeach1

I found a UGLY BIG FAT GREEN GROSS tomato worm earlier this evening. I got it off the plant and squished it. I check the other plants, I have 5 tomato plants and I didn't see any more worms. The peppers seem OK and something is also eating holes in the leaves of my eggplant but I couldn't find any worms on them. I cut off all the eaten parts of the plants. A few hours late I was out there again and another plant that was fine earlier was 1/2 eaten. All the green tomotoes are gone from all the plants. I checked again wouldn't you know it there was another fat big green worm. I cut that worm in 1/2 with clippers while I was cutting the eaten parts of the plants. Was I suppose to cut the plants down and all the parts that no longer had leaves?????? If I killed 2 and checked again and saw no others can I get more? Is there a life cycle and a certain time of the summer that they invade the tomatoes or will other now come to my deck to the funerals and have a tomato picnic after it? Is there a natural way to get rid of them besides going out side every hour to see how my plants are and picking them off? I googled it and there isn't much info except to pick them off and kill them. Any info would be helpful.

QuiltNinaSue yes they started eating from the top down.

trupeach1

a week has passed and the tomato plants are still standing, i hope i killed all thoses nasty green tomato worms. the peppers are doing really well my fear was the worms were going to invade them too.