something stripped my tomato plants

[TammyTX]

I found this link to a photo of tomato worm damage.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29918730@N00/2846988671

 

[jojomojo]

I agree with the tomato hornworm suggestion. You'd be surprised how much damage they can do. Look for this guy...

(edited to fix the image link)

 

[kdcrws]

Quote:
that's what happened to mine too! those little boogers stripped them to the stalk!

 

[AHappychick]

probably one of those horned worm catapilliar things, they come out at dusk or early in the morning and can take out a plant in one day or so. They get huge and not even my chooks will eat them lol you probably have a few I am betting, pull them off and kill. unless you see little white rice type things on their backs in which case relocate but leave the rice things are eggs from a benificial wasp and will eat the catipiliar.

ETA I type to slow lol

 

[farmerkim]

I agree with tomato worm. happend to me last year stripped 2 plants before i noticed. They are hard to see to cause they blend in, took several minutes to find it. I was huge!

 

[gritsar]

Betcha it's cuz you planted them in teflon pans.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

if you look in the early morning you can usually spot them if it 's a cutworm (tomato hornworm) they can devastate a plant in minutes!
To prevent them from getting on your plants split a plastic cup & work it around the base of your plant & sink it into the ground about an inch--they can't climb over it.

When I plant my tomatoes each year, I save those plastic liners you get shrubs in & I sink those in the ground first & then plant my tomato plants in them.

That way, not only will it keep the tomato worms from getting to the plants but it also keeps water concentrated around the roots & protects them from the wind until they get stronger.

 

[Intheswamp]

Tomato hornworm. Get as big as a large man's index finger. They're so big that they can "hide in plain sight" because you're not expecting them to be that big...plus they have a very good camo scheme. This is the catepillar for the "hummingbird moth".

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
yup. That's what I was thinking. One can easily strip a plant in no time at all. And they're so ugly, they make possums look pretty.

 

[warmfuzzies]

They are REALLY hard to see, but I had some strip half of a full grown plant in a few hours. Look for more every day, you dont want to wait till your plant is leafless to find them!

And they are the caterpiler of the Sphinx moth, just in case you wondered....