Some kind of little worm--fruits fall off vine

[AZRuss]

I have some kind of worm--really little green ones, that bore a small hole, enter the fruit and eventually the green tomato falls off the vine. So far this is affecting only my Jet Star plant and has not seemed to invade the huge Lemon Boy right next to it. Any ideas what it is and what I can do about it? Thanks.

[b54red]

Spray the plants with Sevin now! That is some kind of pickle worm and BT does not stop them quick enough. I lost nearly a whole crop one year to the things. They will even bore into the stems of the plants. They are usually only a problem for about two weeks but that is all the time they need to devastate your tomatoes. I always add a little molasses to my Sevin spray and a small bit of dish washing soap. These things can ruin your tomato crop faster than anything short of Late Blight.

Bill

[AZRuss]

Thanks Bill. After researching and finding out what Sevin is, I'm not sure that I'd want to eat tomatoes from the plants sprayed with it. My tomato garden is very, very small this year, but these are the most prolific, healthy plants I've ever grown, so it would be a huge disappointment to lose them. I know that Seven is a very widely used insecticide but ugh! I'm not sure which is worse--the risk with the pickle worms or fruit sprayed with a known carcinogen. Thanks again for the quick reply.

[coastal bend]

If you are hesitant about using 7 , try spinosad it is a bt but much better than the old bt. I used it this year under heavy worm pressure and only found one tomato that had a worm had gotten to. I first used it last year when I couldn't get worm control using bt. One application took out all the worms young and old. It is a great product. So this year I started using it when i started seeing worm eggs once ever ten days till pressure let up.

[b54red]

The only thing organic that might control them fast enough is rotenone and it is a known carcinogen and has more side affects than Sevin even though it is approved for organic growing. All residue from spraying the plants now will be washed off way before the fruits get large enough to ripen. Below is the quote from the MSDS sheet for Sevin.

CARCINOGENICITY COMMENTS:
Carbaryl has been associated with the development of tumors in high dose groups in both rats and mice in lifetime feeding studies. In the rat and mouse chronic studies, the
NOEL (no observable effect level) for oncogenic findings was was 7500 and 1000 ppm, respectively.

I only use it occasionally for certain hard to control pests like squash vine borers, cucumber beetles and pickle worms and I always wait an appropriate time before consuming anything that has been treated with Sevin. BT is a wonderful product for many caterpillars; but I found it ineffective on pickle worms. Maybe you will be lucky and only have a few of them unlike me. I've only had a problem with them on tomatoes twice in nearly 40 years but they really stood out because of the destruction they caused. I hope you are luckier than I was.

Bill

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by b54red

Spray the plants with Sevin now! That is some kind of pickle worm and BT does not stop them quick enough. I lost nearly a whole crop one year to the things. They will even bore into the stems of the plants. They are usually only a problem for about two weeks but that is all the time they need to devastate your tomatoes. I always add a little molasses to my Sevin spray and a small bit of dish washing soap. These things can ruin your tomato crop faster than anything short of Late Blight.

Bill

i feel like you have encountered the worst of the worst.

[Tonio]

hmm, pickleworm does not seem o reach AZ? Must be an import or a related moth?

http://www.extension.org/pages/60954...uction-systems

[EarlyStarter]

I have no idea if their would be some kind of application like this that may work, in fact I'm doubtful there is.... but I tried something on a whim last year for a single vine borer in one of my mature tomato plants that worked for me. What I did was put a syringe worth of orange oil down the borer hole.....my plant lived on fine (although the stem turned a bit purple where I inserted the oil) and I saw zero damage from the borer after that. May have been complete dumb luck and I'm not even sure how I would begin to try treating for a bunch of small pickle worms....thought I'd share anyhow.

Best of luck finding the cure

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by AZRuss

Thanks Bill. After researching and finding out what Sevin is, I'm not sure that I'd want to eat tomatoes from the plants sprayed with it. My tomato garden is very, very small this year, but these are the most prolific, healthy plants I've ever grown, so it would be a huge disappointment to lose them. I know that Seven is a very widely used insecticide but ugh! I'm not sure which is worse--the risk with the pickle worms or fruit sprayed with a known carcinogen. Thanks again for the quick reply.

If you don't want to use sevin, then I would pull out the super hot pepper spray. Won't kill the worms, but it keeps the butterflies and moths from landing and laying eggs. Great preventative.

Lepidoptera taste with their feet. They typically fly around and land on plants and when they land on a plant that "tastes" right, they lay eggs. By spraying the plants with hot pepper spray, it can often send them away without laying those eggs.

If you also use Bt and other organic pest controls, it generally is enough to minimize any damages.

Not sure if it will help you this year. Since obviously the eggs are already laid and hatched. But something to try.

[kwselke]

I have used Spinosad for four years now on what was a rampant leaf miner problem early after planting each year. It has been a great success for me. Ever since my first use of Spinosad the only thing I ever used it for was Leaf Miners. I just used it yesterday evening on what I suspect was Cabbage Leaf Loopers because I had no Bt on hand. Last night's spraying put a halt to the critters. I think Bt is great on worm type critters and it has worked within 24 hours of application for me for many years. It is also safer for beneficial insects than Spinosad in aerosol. If I were going to work up a worm attack escalation table it would read Bt, Spinosad, pyrethrins, and then Malathion. If I have to buy Malathion, I'll buy my tomatoes at the store.

[Rockporter]

What about food grade diomataceous earth sprayed onto the top and bottom of the leaves? It takes care of lots of soft shelled things so maybe it would work with those worms?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Rockporter

What about food grade diomataceous earth sprayed onto the top and bottom of the leaves? It takes care of lots of soft shelled things so maybe it would work with those worms?

Getting DE to stick to the bottom of a leaf is not easy.

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Getting DE to stick to the bottom of a leaf is not easy.

I don't have any problem with that, I put the DE in a round squeezable picnic ketchup type bottle, like the kind you buy at walmart for ketchup, mustard and mayo. I cut a small portion of the tip off and squeeze the bottle into the plant. Sticks all over the place and I just did it again yesterday. Just be careful not to squeeze it into the wind where it will come back into your breathing space.

[Lady Beth]

Plucking cabbage leaf loopers several times a day is trying my patience, but I want to save my brussels and prevent the little buggers from invading my tomatoes and other veggies. Yesterday I made a concoction of cayenne pepper, dried habanaro seeds, ground black pepper, fresh spearmint, boiled, cooled and then added dish soap and oil. Sprayed well.

Went out to check the little buggers this morning. I only found 10 of them compared to the nearly 100 yesterday morning. .

I'm willing try anything natural to eradicate these pests any other suggestions would be most helpful!

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by Lady Beth

Plucking cabbage leaf loopers several times a day is trying my patience, but I want to save my brussels and prevent the little buggers from invading my tomatoes and other veggies. Yesterday I made a concoction of cayenne pepper, dried habanaro seeds, ground black pepper, fresh spearmint, boiled, cooled and then added dish soap and oil. Sprayed well.

Went out to check the little buggers this morning. I only found 10 of them compared to the nearly 100 yesterday morning. .

I'm willing try anything natural to eradicate these pests any other suggestions would be most helpful!

SPINOSAD, SPINOSAD, SPINOSAD. It is a naturally occurring bacteria. AKA Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew. This is awesome. Or try BT powder. This is also a natural product and works extremely well. We buy one that is wettable and we spray it on instead of dusting. It works better for a longer period of time.

I had a farmers market last week and a customer asked me what I used on the cabbage. She told me they always used FLOUR. The bugs wouldn't touch the plants. Give it a try if you want. See if it works for you and let us all know.