[Arid_gardener] MARY SUE -- CHEWED TOMATOES

[Genie]

Hi Mary Sue,

The "invisible" insect may be the disgusting tomato horn worm.
Hornworms are as big as Buick's... but they are sly, and are exactly the 
same color as the tomato plant
stems, so it is difficult to spot them!  Look for black colored specks 
of poop on foliage and stems -- then
inspect the plants thoroughly.  They love to eat the foliage, too.

If this is the problem, you will need to pick off the huge (and I mean 
HUGE) adults.  Purchase a couple
cheap sets of needle-nose pliers -- with the extra long "needle nose" 
for this revolting task.  Drop the
beasts into a very tall bucket -- for killing after you're done, or 
smash them to smithereens as you move along.
Don't be surprised if you find up to 10 horn worms per plant.  (Cheap 
sets of needle nose pliers can be
purchased from Harbor Freight.  They're JUNK quality, but you are using 
this tool to remove monster sized
worms!  Quality is not important!)

After every beast has been removed, spray the plants with bacillus 
thuringiensis; AKA: B.T..
The BT assures that baby and teen aged worms will die of a stomach ache, 
upon consuming the
poison -- which does NOT affect humans NOR pets.  REMEMBER MARY SUE:  
TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!
EVERY HORN WORM MUST DIE!!!
  
That said, if... upon careful examination... you find no horn worms, 
please post a better description of
the chewed tomatoes.  (i.e. the whole tomato is eaten... it looks pecked 
to death... the holes are deep
and narrow... the holes are fat.... no holes; looks like someone ate 
half of the tomato, etc., etc..

Good Luck!  PLEASE let us know what happens!
Genie -- Tucson

Mary Sue
85254
LDLMSL at COX.NET

We have grown tomatoes for years and never had this problem.
The 10 plants are in a raised bed and the ripe or ripening fruit is being eaten by something that we can NOT see.  Basically, the whole planter is now encased in shade screening and there is just NO way for anything to get in.  We check it many times a day and have NEVER seen a bird or worm or bug of any kind inside the planter.  There is nothing coming in from under the planter, either.
Can you think of anything that could be "invisible" (sounds crazy) and eating our tomatoes?  
We have NOT used any kind of pesticide or dust of any kind as yet and would hate to.
Thank you so much in advance for any help.


 
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