How to deal with caterpillars in a greenhouse and in open ground

Parasitic larvae on tomato beds

Not all types of caterpillars are attracted to juicy tomatoes. Tomatoes are most often parasitized by the larvae of two types of butterflies - whiteflies and cutworms. They actively eat the fruits and leaves of the plant. You can encounter pests not only in the open ground, but also in the greenhouse. It's not just the larvae that pose a danger. Butterflies damage tomatoes because they carry bacteria and viruses. Because of insects, plants begin to get sick.

This manifests itself in different ways:

• tomatoes stop growing;
• tomato fruits are deformed;
• The yield decreases due to the lack of ovary.

Whiteflies and cutworms can harm more than just tomatoes. They fly to neighboring vegetable crops. Insects pose a threat to zucchini, eggplant and sweet peppers.

Whitefly larvae

It is difficult to notice the pest on plant leaves. The size of the whitefly is only 1.5-3 mm. The body of the butterfly is white or yellowish, the wings are completely snow-white. The insect does not fly alone. Usually there are dozens of butterflies sitting on a branch. To detect them, you need to shake the plant trunk. The whiteflies will fly up, forming a white cloud.

Insect larvae are initially transparent, with a greenish tint. They feed on plant sap and live on the inside of leaves. During a cycle, the caterpillar goes through several stages. Young larvae are very mobile. They constantly move, destroying healthy and succulent leaves. Caterpillars secrete a sticky secretion that contains a lot of sugar. Because of this, the plant becomes infected with sooty fungus.

The foliage is covered with a black coating, which slows down the processes of photosynthesis. Without receiving the proper amount of sunlight, the plant gradually dies. Caterpillars on tomatoes spoil not only the foliage, but also the fruit. Tomatoes are covered with a white coating.

The liquid that whitefly caterpillars secrete attracts ants to the area. These insects can introduce aphids into the area, which can cause enormous harm to immature tomatoes.

When the caterpillar is ready to change into a butterfly, it slows down. The body of the insect is covered with a waxy coating. Instead of transparent, the color becomes light green. The green caterpillar on tomatoes in a greenhouse is resistant to chemicals. Treating tomatoes with pesticides and insecticides during this period will not bring results. The wax cover will protect the caterpillar from toxic compounds.

You should be wary of whiteflies when there is high humidity and air temperatures above 10 degrees. Caterpillars and butterflies die at the beginning of frost. But whitefly eggs survive cold weather. Butterflies deposit them in the upper layers of the soil, where the insect can remain until the next season.

Whiteflies live not only on tomatoes. Caterpillars can eat many indoor plants:

• begonias;
• fuchsia;
• balsams;
• passion flowers;
• pelargonium.

They pose a danger to potato beds and greenhouse peppers.

Armyworm larvae

The butterfly is a small moth of inconspicuous gray color. The insect's wingspan is less than half a centimeter. Butterflies lay eggs in the ground. Two weeks are enough for the larvae to emerge. The life cycle of a caterpillar before becoming a butterfly is 40 days. During this time, it causes significant damage to the crop.

Cutworms pose a threat to more than just tomatoes. Caterpillars eat beds of cabbage, beans, beets, rutabaga and eggplant.

Armyworm larvae, depending on the subspecies, may differ in color. Most caterpillars are green. There are individuals in brown-pink color. Their length does not exceed 30 mm.

The caterpillar eats tomatoes from the inside. It moves in tomato stems and also feeds on leaves. When the plant begins to wilt and the greens cease to be fleshy, the insect moves to the fruits. The gnawing subspecies of cutworm poses a danger to the root system of the plant. They can feed on underground areas of stems.

The cutworm caterpillar must be combated when the larva emerges from the egg. It is impossible to calculate this period in advance. After the caterpillar is born, there are several days during which it can be noticed on the plant. The caterpillar then chews through the tomato stem, making it very difficult to see.

Main pests of tomatoes and ways to combat them

What tomato pests can threaten a good harvest?

​. It damages the root and stem of tomatoes. The plant stops developing, dries out, and turns yellow. To get rid of wireworms, small potato tubers, beets and carrots are buried in the soil before planting. After 3 days they dig it up and burn it. You can use "Bazudin". It is mixed with sawdust and sand and buried near the plants.​

​The most common pests of tomato plantings are mole crickets, wireworms, cutworms, and whiteflies. Cotton or melon aphids, root-knot nematodes, stink bugs, Colorado potato beetles, spider mites, nightshade miners, and thrips also harm tomatoes.

Soil enemies of tomatoes

The cutworm is a pest of tomatoes and not only tomatoes. How often do pests attack crops? It seems like you are taking care of the plants, but no, some bug will still find a loophole to feed on your harvest. The cutworm caterpillar is one of the most common pests, which is also quite difficult to get rid of. What is most striking is that the armyworm is not particularly picky about its food and eats almost everything - tomatoes, eggplants, corn, peppers, beans and many other plants. But she still has a special love for tomatoes, which suffer from the expression of her love more than all other crops. Such caterpillars appear on tomato plants, as a rule, at a time when summer is not hot, or is already nearing its end.

​Methods for protecting crops from these caterpillars have been developed taking into account their life activity and biological characteristics. Among the basic and preventive measures, it is necessary to highlight the following activities:

​Disease pathogens sometimes develop not only on fruits, but also on leaves, flowers and stems. You can fight the disease by removing infected fruits, as well as increasing the temperature, disinfecting the soil and spraying plants with fungicides.

​One of them is tomato blossom end rot. Even on green and unripe fruits, spots appear, which can be watery and rotten or, conversely, dry and black. The main cause of this disease is a lack of moisture or calcium or excessive nitrogen content in the soil. Regular watering of tomatoes can help with this disease (for more details, see Automatic watering in a greenhouse) and spraying the affected fruits with a solution of calcium nitrate.​

• ​Cultivation also requires favorable conditions;​
• In order to get rid of mole crickets, you can use an infusion of hot pepper. For ten milliliters of water you need to take 150 grams of pepper or two glasses of table vinegar, and then the solution is poured into each hole, half a liter. The most effective way to destroy armyworm caterpillars is by collecting them by hand, digging up the soil, and destroying weeds. Tomatoes can also be sprayed with a special biological preparation, which is also their feeding.​
• ​up to 300 eggs​
• ​Insect pests, beetles and small worms;​

​The most common above-ground pests of tomatoes are cutworm and whitefly.​​Medvedka.​

Who harms tomatoes on the surface of the earth

​With such a “guest” in your garden, you need to immediately start fighting. But let’s take a closer look at the pest itself before moving on to methods of combating cutworms on tomatoes.

​Plants do not warm up properly due to lack of sunlight.​​Spraying tomatoes with insecticides at the stage of caterpillar development. The most common are such drugs as Intavir, Cytcor, Leptocid, bitoxibacillin, dendrobacillin

It is very important to comply with the processing times specified in the instructions for these products.​

​In reinforced greenhouses, tomatoes may be susceptible to diseases such as root rot. Plants begin to wither and their root collars rot. To combat this disease, you need to disinfect the soil using a solution of copper sulfate and remove the top layer of soil and replace it with fresh one.​

​Top rot​​The fertility of the soil for tomatoes is also important. If nutrients are out of balance, there is a risk of disease;

​You can also get the desired effect from destroying wireworms quite easily. About four days before planting, you need to bury pieces of raw carrots, potatoes or beets deep into the bud

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Reasons for appearance

Plants should be inspected for pests especially carefully in several cases:

1. Humid climate. Heavy rains and hot air are ideal weather for caterpillars to hatch from eggs. The soil in which the masonry is located becomes warm enough, which becomes a signal for insects.
2. Abundance of fruit crops. If there are areas with vegetable gardens and orchards near a summer cottage, there is a high probability of caterpillars appearing. Butterflies quickly move through the air and capture new territories.
3. Weed grass. During the flowering period, weeds attract pests to the site.
4. Poor soil treatment. Butterflies lay eggs in the ground. To destroy the masonry, you need to dig up the top layer of soil. The minimum processing depth is 15 cm.

Fine-grained insect netting will help get rid of caterpillars in a greenhouse. It will not allow butterflies inside, which will protect the plants from pests.

External manifestations of caterpillar activity

You can notice that pests have appeared on tomatoes based on several signs:

1. The tomato leaves are covered with a white coating.
2. Holes appear in green fruits.
3. The foliage turns black, quickly dries out and falls off.
4. The tomatoes turn dark brown and fall off the branches.
5. At night, white and gray butterflies fly over the tomatoes.

You can check for caterpillars in your area using a butterfly trap. To make it, a regular plastic bottle with a narrow neck is suitable. Sweet fermented liquid is poured inside. Kvass, jam or berry compote will do. The trap is set at night. If in the morning there are several pest butterflies inside the jar, parasitic caterpillars have settled on the tomatoes.

How to spray tomatoes against pests?

To combat caterpillars on tomatoes, you can use several methods. Using insecticides, you can get rid of pests in one treatment. But using chemicals is dangerous during the fruit ripening period, since the poison can get into the food. If the first tomatoes appear on the plant, it is worth using traditional methods. They are not as effective, but are safe for humans.

Chemical insecticides

Treatment with toxic substances is carried out in emergency cases. It is advisable to resort to potent drugs when pests threaten most of the crop.

Effective insecticides against caterpillars include:

1. "Inta-Vir". The drug can be used no more than 2 times per season.
2. "Decis". The advantages of this product are fast action and lack of addiction in insects. Can be used once a season during active tomato growth.
3. "Avant." Treatment should be carried out during the growing season of plant growth. It is recommended to water the area with the drug once a year. "Avant" destroys not only caterpillars, but also butterfly eggs in the ground.
4. "Aktara". The drug is effective against one hundred species of insects. It poisons not only caterpillars, but also other common pests - aphids and the Colorado potato beetle.

Insecticides are removed from the plant naturally 30 days after spraying. It is not recommended to use them during the period when tomatoes bear fruit.

One preparation is not suitable for annual treatment. Insects quickly become immune to the composition of chemicals.

Organic preparations

Biological-based insecticides can be used several times per season. They are safe for humans, do not poison fruit crops and are not addictive to insects.

Organic preparations for protecting plants from caterpillars include:

1. "Lepidocide." It repels butterflies and quickly kills caterpillars.
2. "Aktofit". Two treatments with this product are carried out per season for optimal results.
3. "Biostop". Effective in the fight against cutworms and aphids.
4. "Fitoverm". For optimal results, the area is treated with the product twice during the spring-summer period.
5. "Verticillin". The drug is made from a fungus that is toxic to insects. It quickly destroys butterflies and whitefly caterpillars.

Tomatoes after treatment with bioinsecticides can be harvested after a few days.

Folk recipes

Using improvised means, you can prepare an effective solution against pests. Spices have repellent properties. Such as salt or mustard. You can also reduce damage from caterpillars by poisoning the pests with a concentrated infusion of herbs.

Saline solution

To prepare the mixture, 400 g of table salt is dissolved in 5 liters of water. The composition is used to treat leaves, both from the outside and from the inside. To keep the salt on the surface of the plant longer, you can add shavings from laundry soap to the mixture.

Mustard powder solution

Dry mustard must be poured into boiling water. 100 g of powder is used per bucket of water. The solution is infused for 48 hours. Then you can spray it on infected plants.

Wormwood decoction

For 1 liter of boiling water there are 100 g of chopped weeds. The decoction is infused for 2 days. The resulting concentrate must be diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.

Tobacco infusion

300 g of tobacco dust is poured into one bucket of boiling water. The solution is infused for a day. To make it last longer on the leaves, you need to add a third of the bar soap to the infusion.

Garlic water

Garlic has a detrimental effect on caterpillars. To make the solution, you need to chop 700 g of plant arrows and pour hot boiled water over them. The broth is infused in a closed container for a week. You need to use 50 g of concentrated infusion per bucket of water. The product can be sprayed on tomatoes once every 10 days.

Step-by-step instructions for fighting

With a cutworm butterfly in the garden

The armyworm and the fight against it have a number of features . Read below on how to deal with cutworms in your garden.

1. Prediction using pheromone traps. Traps show the exact time of the beginning of butterfly flight and the appearance of caterpillars. Initially, the summer passed during the flowering period of dandelions. But now all deadlines are shifted and extended in time. Therefore, forecasting is very important for timely action.
2. In order not to poison plants with chemicals , you should first try to remove the cutworm using folk remedies.
3. Attracting the cutworm's natural enemies - Trichogramma and Bracona.
4. Hang bait traps throughout the garden.
5. If the effectiveness is insufficient, biological products against cutworms are used .
6. If they do not help to completely get rid of the butterflies, use the “heavy artillery”. For the fall armyworm, control measures should include chemical insecticides .
7. When finishing the gardening season, it is worth digging up all the soil deeply, since cutworms overwinter in the soil. After digging, most of the pests die.

Now you know how to get rid of cutworms in your garden. About scoop caterpillars, how to fight further.

With caterpillars

1. At the beginning of the season , dig the soil as deep as possible to reduce the number of overwintered pests.
2. When planting, use alternation of different plant crops.
3. Be sure to eliminate weeds that serve as the initial food supply for the larvae.
4. When the first single specimens appear, they begin to be collected manually.
5. If the number of caterpillars begins to increase, a means is selected to destroy them.

It is recommended to use gentle drugs from the group of folk or biological ones.

6. If they are ineffective, biological products are replaced with chemical insecticides.
7. After harvesting, deep digging of the site is again used .

The cutting armyworm methods for dealing with it are below.

With a gnawing scoop

• The main measure to reduce the number is digging up the soil to a depth of at least 25 cm . It is carried out twice a season - before planting and after harvesting. This procedure will get rid of most existing pests in the caterpillar and pupa stages;
• After planting the plants, they regularly loosen the soil between the rows and beds with a thorough inspection. All discovered caterpillars are immediately removed and destroyed;
• eliminate weeds not only in the garden, but also around the entire site;
• lure the gnawing moth butterfly fermenting drink - kvass, molasses, beer, compote;
• To destroy the larvae that live in the ground, it is necessary to use soil insecticides.

Some experienced gardeners use a tank mixture of the drug (1/2 of the required dose) with urea (100 g per bucket of water).

Control measures for cotton bollworm are slightly different, more on that below.

With cotton boll

The cotton bollworm is a quarantine pest against which special measures are taken . How to deal with it further.

Quarantine procedures include:

• unrelenting control over purchased seedlings, seedlings and bushes. Particular attention should be paid to cotton , chrysanthemums, tomatoes, corn, roses and eggplants. But remember that the cotton bollworm is an almost omnivorous pest;
• if a pest is detected, the entire batch of purchased sprouts is fumigated, as well as the container;
• widespread and active use of pheromone traps .

Photos of the scoop and the fight against it, see below.

How to deal with the scoop? The subsequent struggle is:

1. In compliance with all rules of agricultural technology in closed greenhouses and in open areas.
2. Constant monitoring and identification of pests at all stages of development.
3. Thorough and timely removal of weeds and their subsequent burning.
4. Preventive treatment of suspicious plants with chemical insecticides.

Read on for potato bollworm control measures.

What plants repel caterpillars?

Pests will avoid places where bird cherry bushes grow. Many useful and medicinal plants repel caterpillars:

• mint;
• calendula;
• coriander;
• sage;
• thyme;
• thyme.

Butterflies are afraid of strong odors. Cutworms and whiteflies are repelled by certain types of flowers, such as geraniums, cornflowers and marigolds.

Advice! At the beginning of spring, white mustard seeds can be planted in future tomato beds. When the plant sprouts, it will saturate the ground with its scent. After this, the soil is loosened and tomato seedlings are planted. Butterflies will not be able to lay eggs in such soil.

What caterpillars appear in the greenhouse and what do they eat?

Gardeners need to be wary of two types of caterpillars: whiteflies and armyworms. I’ll tell you how to recognize them and how exactly these uninvited guests harm you.

Cutworm caterpillars

Adult representatives are inconspicuous butterflies that resemble moths. Quite small - 3-4 cm. Their body is gray-brown, and on the wings there is a pattern of strokes and stripes.

scoop butterfly

Cutworms are very prolific - an adult leaves up to 500 eggs over the summer. The masonry is made on the leaves and flowers of greenhouse plants. Armyworm eggs are convex on top and flat on the bottom. In warm conditions they ripen in 2-5 days, in cool conditions - in 4-10.

Biological methods

In nature, the enemies of pest caterpillars are Trichogramma. They lay eggs in the cocoons of butterflies, thereby destroying garden pests. Insects can be purchased at a special store. They are released onto tomato bushes 3 times per season. It is necessary to plant 5000 trichograms per 1 hectare of land.

Bracones pose a danger to caterpillars. These are predatory flies that parasitize the larvae of other insects. The females pierce the caterpillar's cover and inject poison, which stops the digestive system. Then the adult injects about 20 larvae into the victim’s body. Bracons eat the caterpillar from the inside until they reach adulthood.

Harm of cutworms

The potential fertility of the cutworm is 2 thousand eggs. It is especially unpleasant that some species lay one butterfly per leaf, and one butterfly can infect a huge area. Other cutworms can leave 300 or more eggs on the underside of a tomato leaf blade.

During the day, the larvae hide under leaves or plant litter, and feed in the evening and at night. Cutworm - crop pests are conventionally divided into three groups:

• leaf-eaters, whose food base is tomato leaves;
• gnawing cutworms damage the roots and lower part of tomato shoots, most belong to the Agrotis subfamily;
• intrastem ones gnaw into soft tissue, live and feed inside the plant until the time comes to pupate.

But it’s not for nothing that moths are called omnivores. Caterpillars in the early stages of development usually skeletonize and gnaw tomato leaves. Then they may well move onto tomato fruits, damaging them in the area of ​​the stalk. Gnawing cutworms prefer not to rise high; they feed on flowers and tomatoes if they lie on the ground.

How to properly process tomatoes?

Proper care of tomatoes reduces the risk of caterpillars appearing on the site. Plant processing methods differ depending on the location where the fruit crops are located.

Outdoors

The larvae can infect the soil when planting seeds that have parasites. To prevent this from happening, you should always treat the seedlings. The disinfection solution is prepared on the basis of potassium permanganate. For 1 liter of water, 1 mg of the product is used. The seeds are placed in the solution for 15 minutes. Afterwards they are washed thoroughly. They can then be sprouted or dried and used later.

Sprinkling the soil with tobacco dust will help control caterpillars on the site. The eggs of butterflies will die in it, due to which the population of larvae will decrease. If few insects are noticed, it is worth spraying the leaves with herbal infusion. Every other day you can wash off the sticky sweet coating that is secreted by several species of larvae. In this way, you can protect the plant from the formation of fungus.

In case of massive insect infestation, it is worth using organic or chemical preparations for treatment.

In greenhouses and greenhouses

There are many butterfly traps you can set up in an enclosed area. Sticky fly strips will help reduce the number of insects. You can also lay out sheets of plywood or boards coated with a sticky and sweet solution in the greenhouse.

It is only possible to completely get rid of caterpillars in a greenhouse using insecticides. It is important to follow the processing instructions so as not to exceed the permissible amount of chemicals.

Methods for getting rid of caterpillars in a greenhouse

I will present to you effective ways to resist caterpillars, which I have already tried from my own experience.

Chemicals

The most effective counteraction to caterpillars is the use of pesticides. But I will warn you that these products are also dangerous for people: pesticides are completely removed from the plantings and their fruits in at least 20-30 days. Therefore, I always calculate the expected harvest time before processing. If this period is short, I still prefer to use other drugs.

Treating greenhouse plants with insecticides is a last resort. Toxic substances enter the greenhouse substrate, accumulate there, and are absorbed by more than one generation of plantings. The drugs of the 4th hazard class are the fastest to be removed from plants - “Aktofit”, “Lepidotsid”, “Fitoverm”, “Agravertin”.

I always carry out processing in closed conditions with all precautions - I cannot do without a respirator, protective clothing, thick gloves and goggles. I open the windows and doors and try to spray the plants as quickly as possible.

For treatment, I choose universal preparations that destroy both caterpillars and adult whiteflies, cutworms:

1. "Intavir". The active ingredients affect caterpillars at all stages of development and repel adult butterflies. I use the drug only for treating plants - as a preventive measure it is too strong a remedy.
2. "Avant." Impact on both caterpillars and laid eggs. The product is very toxic - I don’t use it more than 2 times a summer. "Decis". A potent drug that protects against pests for 10-15 days.

To protect seedlings from caterpillars, buy the drug “Prestige”. Dilute the solution according to the instructions, place the seedlings in it before moving for 30 minutes. One treatment is enough to keep pests away from the plant all season.

Useful tips and advice

It is not advisable to plant tomatoes too close to each other. Because of this, it is convenient for pests to move to neighboring plants, and their population grows rapidly.

Tomatoes need daily watering. The soil must be moistened moderately so as not to create a favorable environment for caterpillars to reproduce. Tomatoes are watered early in the morning, when the sun has not yet had time to warm the ground. Water should only be poured at the root of the plant. It is also advisable to water the soil in winter. Because of this, insect pupae that are in the ground die.

Prevention measures

To prevent larvae from appearing on the site, it is necessary to carefully monitor the seedlings. The likelihood of parasites appearing is low if:

• the top soil of the earth is completely replaced at the end of autumn;
• in spring the soil is treated with boiling water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• there are no weeds in the garden;
• the greenhouse windows are protected with fine-grained mesh;
• In autumn, tomato tops are completely removed from the site.

The invasion of caterpillars can be easily stopped if measures are taken in time and the fruit plants are treated. Timely prevention will help reduce the number of pests on the site.