Content
- Identify and combat common pests on tomatoes
- Two pests have specialized in tomatoes
- Omnipresent pests do not spare tomatoes
- Tips & Tricks
Identify and combat common pests on tomatoes
If the natural balance in tomato cultivation is out of joint, pests are out of the blue. How to identify the most common culprits early and to combat them vehemently is illustrated in the following lines.
Two pests have specialized in tomatoes
Within the large group of plant pests, the following two culprits are mostly targeting tomatoes.
Tomato Miner Flies - (Liriomyza bryoniae)
The hatched larvae eat their way through the leaf tissue in clearly identifiable miniature passages.
Tomato rust mites - (Aculops lycopersici)
The infestation manifests itself very late in the form of yellow, withering leaves and brown discolored shoots. The fruits cork and fall off.
Omnipresent pests do not spare tomatoes
Often it is the usual suspects among the pests of the garden that clog your self-bred tomatoes. The following candidates are particularly prominent here:
White fly - (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
The 2 mm small, white-powdered insects frolic on the underside of the leaves. Here they suck the life out of the plant. When shaken, a white cloud of these pests rises. In the field, a dense network protects the plants from infestation. In the greenhouse, beneficial insects have proven useful, such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps.
Thrips, Fringed Flies - (Thysanoptera)
The tiny, black insects cause speckles on the leaves and fruits as they drain the sap. The larvae meanwhile damage the roots in the soil with their feeding activity. Preventively hang up blue glue boards. Infests under control, such as lacewing larvae, hoverflies and predatory mites, keep an infestation. Repeatedly spray a soft soap solution and garlic tea.
Tips & Tricks
In the environmentally friendly pest control, the use of beneficial organisms is increasingly prevailing. Since parasitic wasps and colleagues in the hobby garden are rare to breed, specialized dealers have focused on this offer. The little helpers are delivered in special transport containers, including detailed instructions for bedding or greenhouse application.