Problems Already! Stem and Leaves

[aclum]

Hi,

My first batch of transplants have only been in the ground for 3 weeks and today I noticed that two of the plants already have what seems to be some sort of insect damage - but might be other things as well. I suckered and lightly pruned the lower leaves of the plants 3 days ago and everything was fine then. We had a pretty good rain 2 days ago - otherwise nothing unusual. I haven't seen any insects or other bugs, but some sort of leaf eater is lurking somewhere. I suspect earwigs, but not sure.

Besides the chewed on leaves, I noticed damage on a couple of the leaf branches and growing tip areas on a BKX and JD's Special C Tex. I've attached some close-up photos of the damage. The plants as a whole seem healthy - just the few damaged areas. Any idea what's going on and what I should do about it?

Thanks!
Anne

[Salsacharley]

It is possible that you might have curly top virus brought on by leaf hoppers. Are there any weeds nearby? Flowering weeds tend to be a place for leaf hoppers to start. I may be wrong (hopefully) about this being curly top but growing tips are one of the most vulnerable areas for curly top. It is fatal.

[efisakov]

I would spray with diatomaceous earth for the smallest insects/babies and liquid soap for the bigger once. It is all organic.
The easy way to do that is by mixing them with water in a sprayer attachable to a hose.
DE is harmless, so no need to be precise. Soap is not.
It helped me last year when plants became huge.

It looks like slug/snail damage to me.

[aclum]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the responses. I'll take some steps to control any snails, slugs, and earwigs with baits. Not sure on the spray yet. I need to replace my hose end sprayer. Also, not sure about using the DE due to it's fine particles when dry (I have respiratory issues), but I do have available Safer Insect Killing Soap, Neem Oil, Bleach, and plain soap (Dawn or Dr. Bronners Sal Suds) that I could use.

SalsaCharley,

The affected plants are in a row separated by about 4 feet of dirt path from an area that was very weedy. I had it all weeded about a week before transplanting. I haven't noticed any insects on or near the plants. I plan to put up my yellow and blue sticky cards today and maybe something will show up on them.

I'm attaching a better close-up photo of the damage to the BKX. I noticed some possible new damage on a Daniels (photo attached) and Gary'O Sena (couldn't get the photo to load for some reason). If the problem is a virus, should I just rip out the plants? I don't have a back up Gary'O Sena, but do have backups (although not grafts like the affected plants) of the BKX, Daniels, and JD's Special C Tex that I planted today in a separate bed about 20 feet away from the affected plants.

Thanks for any addition advice!
Anne

[efisakov]

Hi, Anne,
it looks like a caterpillar (top). I enlarged one of your pictures.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Hi, Anne,
it looks like a caterpillar (top). I enlarged one of your pictures.

I dont see the thing.

Worth

[efisakov]

Maybe it is my imagination?

[clkeiper]

I was thinking a cut worm or a caterpillar of some kind. I see bite spots up the stem.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Maybe it is my imagination?

Looks like the back end of a bloom.
The other evening I saw the biggest caterpillar I have ever saw on my tomato plant.
It turned out the be the back side of a loquat leaf.

[Salsacharley]

I wouldn't pull any plant until you are able to confirm what the malady is. I'm in no way expert enough to diagnose your problem with certainty. Perhaps you can get somebody locally who is well versed enough to make a good diagnosis.
You can do a serious close up search on the plants for the presence of insects. In an ongoing affliction they will certainly be present. If you have a loupe or strong magnifying glass you can inspect the tops and bottoms of leaves and the stems to see if there are dirty rotten bugs.

Originally Posted by aclum

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the responses. I'll take some steps to control any snails, slugs, and earwigs with baits. Not sure on the spray yet. I need to replace my hose end sprayer. Also, not sure about using the DE due to it's fine particles when dry (I have respiratory issues), but I do have available Safer Insect Killing Soap, Neem Oil, Bleach, and plain soap (Dawn or Dr. Bronners Sal Suds) that I could use.

SalsaCharley,

The affected plants are in a row separated by about 4 feet of dirt path from an area that was very weedy. I had it all weeded about a week before transplanting. I haven't noticed any insects on or near the plants. I plan to put up my yellow and blue sticky cards today and maybe something will show up on them.

I'm attaching a better close-up photo of the damage to the BKX. I noticed some possible new damage on a Daniels (photo attached) and Gary'O Sena (couldn't get the photo to load for some reason). If the problem is a virus, should I just rip out the plants? I don't have a back up Gary'O Sena, but do have backups (although not grafts like the affected plants) of the BKX, Daniels, and JD's Special C Tex that I planted today in a separate bed about 20 feet away from the affected plants.

Thanks for any addition advice!
Anne

[clkeiper]

If it is a cutworm, you will only find them at nighttime with a flash light. That is how I find them here. They drop and roll into a ring if they are disturbed. So look carefully and gently tonight. During the day they are hiding in the soil.

Neem oil will not kill your insect problem. It messes up/inhibits their reproductive cycle.

[aclum]

Hi again,

Ella, I think what you are seeing is just part of the tomato plant (that might happen to look like a caterpillar). But while I haven't found any creatures on the plants, I do now strongly suspect caterpillars (possibly in addition to a virus disease)- The gnawed look on some of the leaf stems does look a lot like cutworm damage that you might see on stems at ground level. And I think the holes in the leaves could be caterpillar damage. I'll check the plants out more closely tomorrow and if I can't see any evidence of insects like whiteflies, etc., I might go ahead and apply some Safer Caterpillar Killer I found today.

Unless I find some sort of insect infestation, I'll hold off on the Safer Insect Killing Soap (or DE) for now and just put up the sticky traps. Thinking about putting out pans of stale beer to trap slugs and snails, but a little unsure of that as a neighborhood cat has decided to become our "garden cat" and I worry about it drinking the beer and getting sick!

I won't pull the plants until I know for sure what's going on. Hopefully they'll all pull through. I'd like to save them esp. as they're grafts that I now have controls for in the newly planted ungrafted back-ups. I'm just sorry that I suckered them all a few days ago .

Thanks again for the input! I'll let you know how things progress.

Anne

.

[aclum]

Carolyn,

Just re-read what you wrote about the cutworms - will go out with a flashlight tonight to look for them. I KNOW they're in the soil, but with the exception of two felled plants (that I hadn't properly protected) last year, they haven't really posed any obvious problems above soil.

Thanks for the tip,
Anne

[ddsack]

Anne, there are quite a few species of cutworms. I didn't know about climbing cutworms until I had my first infestation a couple of years ago. The moths must have come through and laid eggs in my potted tomatoes. Something was eating my potted tomato leaves all lacy and I could never find them until they grew bigger. They started out tiny, like cabbage caterpillers, but were brownish grey. Look to see if there is dark greenish caterpiller poop among your leaves. These cutworms look almost identical to the cut worms that stay in the ground and chew off young seedling at ground level. If any of your plants are in pots, try flooding the pot with some water, and often the cutworms will float up above the soil, especially if you riffle the top of the soil a bit.