Little hole, and ????

tam91 · July 1, 2012

Anyone know what the heck this is? And what to do about it?

There's a little hole in the stem of the tomato, and this "stuff".

I put Sevin on the plant and the dirt, but just saw the hole when I got inside and looked at the photo.

Any ideas?

tam91 · July 2, 2012

No one? I really don't want to lose this plant if I can help it.

BarbJ · July 2, 2012

I don't see a photo.

JamesL · July 2, 2012

tam,
no photo attached....

tam91 · July 2, 2012

Well there certainly isn't. Aargh. Where did my photo go? OK, I'm trying again - sorry.

JamesL · July 2, 2012

Tracy,
You have a problem there. Some sort of borer. Fruitworm, cutworm, pinworm, Corn borer, squash borer, etc. Doesn't really matter which one.
The prognosis for the patient is not good.

Treatment - You are going to need to operate and remove it. They don't always stay in the same plant either. so if you don't it could move.
Take a razor knife, or other sharp knife and slowly split the stem vertically. I would start slightly below the hole and work up.
You don't need to cut all the way through to the other side. But you need to find the offender and eliminate with prejudice or the plant is dead anyway.

Afterwards, treat it like a flesh wound. clean, and splint and tape as necessary.

ddsack · July 2, 2012

Looks like something has done a little excavating!

I've never seen anything like that before on a tomato. The huge discarded pellets look like white uneaten pulp, not the blackish stuff you get from digested cut worm leavings, but maybe that part of the inner stem produces white droppings. Please let us know what you find! Get a picture of the culprit if you can.

I am used to having cutworms in the soil, doing damage at ground level, but this year for the first time I am finding them up in the leaves of my tomato plants, eating them into lace. They look just like the soil cutworms, except darker and smaller, though I think they are just immature, because the bigger fatter ones I've found grey out. They leave dark poop in the leaves and are also chewing holes in the tomatoes. Nearly all my potted tomatoes are affected. I pick off and squish what I can, and some will float up in the water when I flood the pot. I hate to use Sevin, but if this keeps up I won't have any tomatoes without holes.

tam91 · July 2, 2012

I've never seen anything like it either! OK, I'll do surgery - anyone know what to bind the stem up with?

tam91 · July 2, 2012

Couldn't find anybody. I slit the stem down into the dirt a little ways even, and way up. Nobody home that I could see. I dumped sevin and BT in there, wrapped plastic wrap around it, and hope whatever it is will die instead of the plant. Not optimistic though.

BigBrownDogHouse · July 2, 2012

No little elves in there?

On a serious note, I googled your problem and came up with some interesting stuff. Give that a shot.

A borer might have laid an egg in there and took off.

tam91 · July 2, 2012

Whatever it is is still active - there was new excavation today.

JamesL · July 2, 2012

Tape - I use this green stuff, flexible, no adhesive.

They call it green stretch tie tape
http://www.ghorganics.com/Garden_Tape_All_Purpose.html

You could probably us plastic adhesive tape though as well.

Worth1 · July 2, 2012

Looks like some kind of voodoo curse to me.

Boil some chicken bones in a mixture of banana leaves toad urine and dog slobbers.

Then burn the mixture and spread the ashes around the plant while a wolf is howling.

This should remove the curse.

I have to do it all of the time.

Worth

JamesL · July 2, 2012

Worth,
You forgot the most important parts!
Light of the full moon and the proper incantation.

coastal bend · July 2, 2012

Was the new excavation in the same plant or a new one. The seven and bt should take care of it. I think that is all you can do unless you can catch him the act. The seven should kill it if it is not a worm. which I don't think it is. I would spay seven all around the area .

July 1, 2012	#1
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Little hole, and ???? Anyone know what the heck this is? And what to do about it? There's a little hole in the stem of the tomato, and this "stuff". I put Sevin on the plant and the dirt, but just saw the hole when I got inside and looked at the photo. Any ideas? __________________ Tracy

July 2, 2012	#2
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	No one? I really don't want to lose this plant if I can help it. __________________ Tracy

July 2, 2012	#7
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Looks like something has done a little excavating! I've never seen anything like that before on a tomato. The huge discarded pellets look like white uneaten pulp, not the blackish stuff you get from digested cut worm leavings, but maybe that part of the inner stem produces white droppings. Please let us know what you find! Get a picture of the culprit if you can. I am used to having cutworms in the soil, doing damage at ground level, but this year for the first time I am finding them up in the leaves of my tomato plants, eating them into lace. They look just like the soil cutworms, except darker and smaller, though I think they are just immature, because the bigger fatter ones I've found grey out. They leave dark poop in the leaves and are also chewing holes in the tomatoes. Nearly all my potted tomatoes are affected. I pick off and squish what I can, and some will float up in the water when I flood the pot. I hate to use Sevin, but if this keeps up I won't have any tomatoes without holes. __________________ Dee **************

July 2, 2012	#8
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	I've never seen anything like it either! OK, I'll do surgery - anyone know what to bind the stem up with? __________________ Tracy

July 2, 2012	#9
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Couldn't find anybody. I slit the stem down into the dirt a little ways even, and way up. Nobody home that I could see. I dumped sevin and BT in there, wrapped plastic wrap around it, and hope whatever it is will die instead of the plant. Not optimistic though. __________________ Tracy

July 2, 2012	#3
BarbJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: California, USA Posts: 154	I don't see a photo.

July 2, 2012	#4
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	tam, no photo attached....

July 2, 2012	#10
BigBrownDogHouse Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Northern Illinois ZONE 5a...wait now 5b Posts: 906	No little elves in there? On a serious note, I googled your problem and came up with some interesting stuff. Give that a shot. A borer might have laid an egg in there and took off. __________________ Brian

July 2, 2012	#13
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Looks like some kind of voodoo curse to me. Boil some chicken bones in a mixture of banana leaves toad urine and dog slobbers. Then burn the mixture and spread the ashes around the plant while a wolf is howling. This should remove the curse. I have to do it all of the time. Worth

July 2, 2012	#15
coastal bend Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: south texas Posts: 114	Was the new excavation in the same plant or a new one. The seven and bt should take care of it. I think that is all you can do unless you can catch him the act. The seven should kill it if it is not a worm. which I don't think it is. I would spay seven all around the area .