It is very insulting, having invested a lot of effort and time in caring for the greenhouse , to discover that the caterpillars eat tomatoes, making huge holes in them and eating the flesh from the inside. Do this adult adults of tomato scoops.
They look like huge (up to 30 cm in length) green or dark brown caterpillars with wavy lines along the trunk and three light strips. They eat, by the way, not only tomatoes, but also peppers, eggplants, cabbage, beets, onions and other crops.
Their development occurs since June, when pupae are born butterflies, laying eggs after 3-4 days on the stems and leaves of tomatoes and other plants. Caterpillars are born within three days and then develop into an adult individual within 13-22 days. First they damage the leaves, buds and flowers, and then the tomatoes are introduced into the fruit.
Caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse - what to do?
Fighting caterpillars on tomatoes in a greenhouse is an integrated approach and includes the following measures:
- Regular destruction of weeds, beginning in the spring. This reduces the diet of butterflies and caterpillars.
- Regular inspection of the greenhouse, especially during the period of mass flowering and spraying with one of the chemical preparations: Iskra, Leptocide, Tsitkor, Kinmiks, Decis, Inta-Vir, Confidor.
- Repetition of spraying with one of these preparations after a week, as the caterpillars are born not all at once.
- In the future, only biological preparations can be used, since the period of ripening and harvesting does not tolerate chemicals. Repeat the treatment every 2-3 more times.
- Do not allow the development of the caterpillar to large sizes, since then the struggle with it becomes more complicated.
- In autumn it is necessary to destroy all plant remains, which were damaged by a scoop, to dig a bed, and in the summer periodically to loosen the ground.
Fight against caterpillars on tomatoes folk remedies
If you later noticed that in tomatoes caterpillars started, and chemical
- Infusion of herbs: celandine, wormwood, makhorka, tobacco (only 400 g) and 200 g of garlic. All this is insisted in 10 liters of hot water (60-70 ° C) during the day. Then you need to strain the solution and add to it 40 g of laundry soap.
- Infusion of potato leaves: 1 kg of tops to grind and pour 10 liters of warm water, allow to stand for 4 hours, strain and add 40-50 grams of laundry soap.
- Sprinkle salt directly on the plants. After this, try not to wash off and not to chafe the salt. Either dissolve salt in water and sprinkle tomatoes.