My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

A couple of possibilities.....birds could be pecking at them; if the weather
has been dry, and they don't have a good source of water, they sometimes
peck at tomatoes for the moisture. A birdbath, or even a pan of water,
changed daily, can help alleviate this behavior. Another possibility is
squirrels, they sometimes bite at tomatoes, again, an alternative source of
water may help.

Or it could be hornworms--they are large, and can eat a surprising amount
out of a tomato. They are green, and blend in fairly well, but if you look
through the foliage you can spot them. You can usually spot their
droppings, which are small black pellets. You can handpick and destroy
them, but leave any that have what looks like grains of rice on their
backs--they are doomed by parasite wasps.
Here's more info:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...sts/tomato.htm
although personally I would not use the pesticides this site recommends. If
the infestation is so severe that handpicking can't control it, I would use
Bt.
Here's more on Bt:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/bi.../bacteria.html
It's readily available at most nurseries, one brand name is Dipel. Do use
it with care, as it is indiscriminate in killing "good" caterpillars as well
as bad.

Hope this helps,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"FERRANTE" wrote in message
...
My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

OMG I've been finding the "frass" on my pepper plants wondering what the
hell it is. Now I know...I found one of these caterpillers a few weeks ago
on one of my tomatoes and smooshed him, but haven't seen any since then. I'm
gonna get my butt dressed and go 'piller huntin...

"SugarChile" wrote in message
...
A couple of possibilities.....birds could be pecking at them; if the
weather
has been dry, and they don't have a good source of water, they sometimes
peck at tomatoes for the moisture. A birdbath, or even a pan of water,
changed daily, can help alleviate this behavior. Another possibility is
squirrels, they sometimes bite at tomatoes, again, an alternative source
of
water may help.

Or it could be hornworms--they are large, and can eat a surprising amount
out of a tomato. They are green, and blend in fairly well, but if you
look
through the foliage you can spot them. You can usually spot their
droppings, which are small black pellets. You can handpick and destroy
them, but leave any that have what looks like grains of rice on their
backs--they are doomed by parasite wasps.
Here's more info:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...sts/tomato.htm
although personally I would not use the pesticides this site recommends.
If
the infestation is so severe that handpicking can't control it, I would
use
Bt.
Here's more on Bt:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/bi.../bacteria.html
It's readily available at most nurseries, one brand name is Dipel. Do use
it with care, as it is indiscriminate in killing "good" caterpillars as
well
as bad.

Hope this helps,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"FERRANTE" wrote in message
...
My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

Don't be too surprised if you don't find any....like a lot of insects, they
have a relatively short time frame where they are larvae (reduces the risk
of being eaten). If you spotted some a few weeks ago, the others (if there
were others) may well have finished eating and dropped to the ground to
pupate undetected. They turn into really cool looking moths.

I know that others have different experiences with hornworms, but I've only
ever seen a few each season. Maybe I have particularly diligent birds 8-).

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA

"Mike Stevenson" wrote in message
...
OMG I've been finding the "frass" on my pepper plants wondering what the
hell it is. Now I know...I found one of these caterpillers a few weeks ago
on one of my tomatoes and smooshed him, but haven't seen any since then.
I'm
gonna get my butt dressed and go 'piller huntin...

FERRANTE wrote in message . ..
My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

Slugs, tomato fruitworm, birds.

99% of the time it's the work of hornworms. They will devour branches and
whole tomatoes overnight. It doesn't matter whether the tomatoes are green
or red. Hornworms are the most common pest on tomatoes that I've
encountered.

You can easily find and eradicate them. In early morning, look along the
branches for a green, puffy caterpillar (it blends in very nicely with the
green branches) with little white lines on its back and a red horn on one
end of its body. Wear gloves - handpick them and drop them into a bucket of
water to drown or crush them (yuck). After picking as many as you can find,
you can dust the plants with Dipel Dust or Bt. Bt is an organic bacteria
that kills just caterpillars and chewing larvae. I don't like having to use
anything if I can help it, but in this case, it is the safest to use without
being harmful to humans and other beneficials in the garden. I had to use
it once this summer for hornworms and it helped. I just returned from a
week away and found 3 baby hornworms yesterday on my tomatoes. I picked
them off the let my 9 yr old neighbor have them to keep as pets in a
container. Kids love them because they grow very quickly into fat
caterpillars when fed tomato branches. My kids used to take them for show
and tell at school.

Bt also comes in a liquid concentrate, if you don't like to mess with
powder. I like the powder because I can see when I've dusted all the
leaves. I hope this helps your mother.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"FERRANTE" wrote in message
...
My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

Might be a land tarpon. Those critters will take a bite out of a tomato and
move to the next tomato. I caught one in the act!! grrrrrrr.... Mine were
fenced in too. He just dug under in and made himself at home!!! He stayed
hidden for a couple of days until I saw him..
As soon as I relocated him - the holes have stopped.
Susie :-))


"FERRANTE" wrote in message
...
My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

Thanks,
Mark Ferrante

FERRANTE wrote:
She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

It would help to know where in the world she is located. That could help
eliminate kangaroos or polar bears. In Pennsylvania it could be
turtles, chipmunks, or groundhogs.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 01:58:59 GMT, "Stephen M. Henning"
wrote:

FERRANTE wrote:
She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

It would help to know where in the world she is located. That could help
eliminate kangaroos or polar bears. In Pennsylvania it could be
turtles, chipmunks, or groundhogs.

Northwest Ohio.

Mark

FERRANTE wrote:

My elderly mother called me tonight and asked me to put a message on
"that thing," and that is what I am doing right now.

She has a small garden and lately, something is eating bites out of
her tomatoes. I don't think the bites are small either. Also I don't
know of any big animals that would have access to them as her garden
is fenced in, I think.

Anyone have any idea of what could be doing this and also, what
precautions could be taken to stop this?

I'm sorry. I'll stop.

8^(~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~

"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson
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