Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: InfraDig on August 11, 2017, 11:38:12
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In the greenhouse, on one plant, lots of little what look like droppings, and nibbled tomatoes!
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Well, my enclosed tomato crop is protected by a little nipper, with several successes, no signs of damage(to the toms) though. They (field mice) probably just popped in out of the rain!
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Could it be tomato moth? Unless the evidence points otherwise.
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Yes they do, though I've only had issues with the lowest trusses particularly if they are touching the ground. the skin seems to be torn and odd bits of it might be sticking up.
Birds also can be a problem (here sparrows and blackbirds seem to be the culprits) you can see the tell tale beak marks they make as they peck the flesh, looks like little stab marks. But obviously their poo is quite different!
Slugs or is it snails, kind of slime off slices, having rounded edges to the holes which are usually very shallow (at least to start).
Tomato Moth caterpillars can do a lot of damage to both leaves and fruits and often the way to find them is by the trail of copious amounts of poo they excrete!
Mice and birds go for ripe fruit, slugs usually ripe but sometimes unripe fruit and Tomato moth ripe or unripe.
Good luck finding the culprit.
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Sorry, didn't notice your reply before I posted about caterpillars. Thank you for your thoughts. Looks like this could be a long term problem if I am not careful!!
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Sorry Pumpkin Lover, I have only just seen your reply! Thank you for it. Bang on the nail!
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They can be a bit frustrating to locate, if they are not inside the fruit, sometimes a tap to the plant knocks them off and they lay still for a few moments before they start to move.
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It's never going to be a long-term problem... as the revival of my 2010 posts show... they struggle to over-winter here... I've had a couple of damaged fruit on a couple of plants this year.. a nuisance rather than a catastrophe!