Black oblong pellets near tomato fruit stems
 

A while back, I caught a caterpillar on a huge Better Boy tomato. I ended
up pruning the caterpillar in half as he was eating a hole in the tomato.
That tomato finally ripened and I picked it today. There were some black
oblong pellets near the stem (where it attached to the plant) about 2x2x4
mm. Am I correct in assuming that these little raisins were deposited by
our departed friend?

-- Salty

Black oblong pellets near tomato fruit stems
 

Yep, sounds like caterpillar doo doo to me!

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
A while back, I caught a caterpillar on a huge Better Boy tomato. I ended
up pruning the caterpillar in half as he was eating a hole in the tomato.
That tomato finally ripened and I picked it today. There were some black
oblong pellets near the stem (where it attached to the plant) about 2x2x4
mm. Am I correct in assuming that these little raisins were deposited by
our departed friend?

-- Salty

Black oblong pellets near tomato fruit stems
 

Absolutely correct. I just responded to another post asking what was eating
her tomatoes. It's the dreaded hornworm caterpillar. They are easy to find
because they do leave little green/brown droppings after eating. Usually
there are more of them though. You can search the ends of all the branches
for a puffy, green caterpillar with a red horn on the end or use Bt (Dipel
Dust) to kill them. It's an organic bacteria that targets just caterpillars
or chewing larvae.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
A while back, I caught a caterpillar on a huge Better Boy tomato. I ended
up pruning the caterpillar in half as he was eating a hole in the tomato.
That tomato finally ripened and I picked it today. There were some black
oblong pellets near the stem (where it attached to the plant) about 2x2x4
mm. Am I correct in assuming that these little raisins were deposited by
our departed friend?

-- Salty