Tomatoes

Common Problems with Tomatoes:
     Tomato Hornworm
    Curly Top Virus
     Blossom End Rot
     Grasshopper Damage

Tomato Hornworm

A tomato hornworm is a destructive larva of the North American hawk moth (Manduca quinquemaculata) that feeds on tomato plants.   They feed on the leaves, stems and fruit of all of the night shade family of plants including eggplant.  They are difficult to see on the plant.  They can be picked off by hand, or sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which is safe to use on food crops.  It will emerge as a moth in June or July, which lays eggs that will hatch in just one week.  They overwinter in the soil.

Curly Top Virus
Curly top virus is common in tomatoes, especially in years when there has been a large bloom of mustard weeds.  The leaves start to curl up, showing the underside of the leaves, the overall color becomes more yellow, and the veins in the leaf may take on a purple color.  There is no cure.  The virus is spread by the beet leaf hopper, and when it feeds on the tomato plant it infects the plant.  Remove the affected plant to keep from spreading the virus.  If still early in the season you can try replanting and still get some tomatoes.  While there is no cure you can help prevent infection with weed control.  The beet leaf hopper feeds on mustard weed, which was quite prevalent this year.  When the weeds die back in late May, the leaf hopper looks for other plants to feed on.  Early spring control of weeds will help keep the beet leaf hopper under control. 

Blossom End Rot

Grasshopper Damage