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Re: Denuded Tomato Tops?!

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Towey, Brian said:

>The other day I went out and found the tops of two of my four tomato plants
>stripped bare.  It's the sort of damage I associate with snails -- bare
>stems.  But, it's only the top foot or so.  I can't imagine that a snail
>would climb 6 feet and eat the 7th, then climb down again.  It's the
>strangest thing I've ever seen in a garden!  Any ideas?

When I see that type of damage, I know that the hornworms are at work. 
Look on the undersides of leaves for this critter:

http://www.dimensional.com/~janf/garden/gard5pix/hornwormr.JPG

They really camouflage themselves well. Hornworms seem to like the tender 
new leaves, thus the damage to the tops of the plants. They usually just 
leave stube of the branches.

If you find them, you can pluck them off and squish them. Or some people 
throw them in a bucket of soapy water. In any case, you'll want to be 
very vigilant and keep checking your tomato plants, because they can 
denude them in a hurry.

--
Jan K. France        |       France & Associates        |
janf@dimensional.com |   Macintosh Hypermedia Services  |
janf@aol.com         | http://www.dimensional.com/~janf |


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