Black "ink" on plants

hasshoes · July 21, 2010

Hate to be vulgar, but is this bird poop? It starts off very black- like ink- then the leaf turns brown and crinkles up. Sometimes when I go out it has taken off several leaves or a lot of a stem. Mold? Very weird. It just keeps pooping up. Not sporulating in a ziploc, though yes, it is unnerving. :0)

Ty in advance.

Timmah! · July 21, 2010

Ya, it looks like bird poop. I installed a bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds 40 feet away from my garden to help direct the traffic away from my tomatoes.

hasshoes · July 21, 2010

Thanks Timmah. What can I say. . . it's usually white and, uh, different, when it lands on my car.

Crazy though that it's killing the leaves- I never would have thought it would do that- and it's not a problem I've had before. Time to refill the bird feeder I guess.

Thank you :0)

hasshoes · July 23, 2010

The pattern of it's appearance is not at all like bird poop, so I've been keeping an eye on it.

Finally figured out what it is (if anyone cares ;0) and while it's bird related it's not bird poop.

It's tomato hornworm guts!!!!!! LOL Birds are getting them off my plants (BT- I know, had a hard time finding it locally this year- finally arrived in the mail yesterday :0) and some are apparently not as good at getting them as others.

I found one hornworm mutilated with both green and that sort of black ink underneath. It was oozing--- gross!!! :0)

July 21, 2010	#3
hasshoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: MT Posts: 438	Thanks Timmah. What can I say. . . it's usually white and, uh, different, when it lands on my car. Crazy though that it's killing the leaves- I never would have thought it would do that- and it's not a problem I've had before. Time to refill the bird feeder I guess. Thank you :0) __________________ Sara

July 23, 2010	#4
hasshoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: MT Posts: 438	The pattern of it's appearance is not at all like bird poop, so I've been keeping an eye on it. Finally figured out what it is (if anyone cares ;0) and while it's bird related it's not bird poop. It's tomato hornworm guts!!!!!! LOL Birds are getting them off my plants (BT- I know, had a hard time finding it locally this year- finally arrived in the mail yesterday :0) and some are apparently not as good at getting them as others. I found one hornworm mutilated with both green and that sort of black ink underneath. It was oozing--- gross!!! :0) __________________ Sara

July 21, 2010	#2
Timmah! Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky 6a Posts: 754	Ya, it looks like bird poop. I installed a bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds 40 feet away from my garden to help direct the traffic away from my tomatoes.