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What is it?
Cutworms are the most likely garden pests to attack young tomato plants, but they will also feed on many other plants in the vegetable garden as well. Cutworms need to be controlled quickly and efficiently or you are liable to have these vegetable garden pests attacking many varieties of plant in your garden, along with the infested tomato plants.
What does it look like?
There are several species of cutworms, which are the larvae of moths. When damage from cutworms occurs, the tomato plant seedlings and young tomato plant transplants will usually look chewed or sliced off near the base of the plant. Tomato plants may also appear as if they have been cut off or trimmed close to the soil at the base. You can verify tomato plant cutworms by digging in the soil around your tomato plants. If you go down about 2 inches into the soil near the bottom of the tomato plant you suspect may be infested, you may find black, gray or brown worms. These cutworms typically have either stripes or spots on their bodies. Usually tomato plant cutworms tend to be between 1.5 and 2 inches in length and they coil when they are disturbed. These details give the illusion of texture, but cutworms are actually very smooth to the touch. When you disturb cutworms by digging near them they will curl up their bodies, however, tomato plant cutworms typically do not bite humans and are more protective of themselves than combative if you pick these small pests up.
How does it manifest?
Adult cutworms are night flying-moths that are very dark in shades of black, brown and gray. They have strips on their forewings and don’t do much damage the plants. It is their larvae in the form of cutworms which can quickly destroy your vegetable garden. You may not notice them until the damage is severe because these worms hide during the day and feed at night. Only if you look for the tell-tale adult moths will you first suspect cutworms.
What can you do about it?
Once you have discovered cutworm damage in your tomato plants or garden, you can apply an insecticide containing either chlorpyrifos, diazinon or carbaryl. You can also bait areas at the bases of tomato plants around the stems and leaves with carbaryl containing insecticide. Once cutworm infestation has begun, it’s hard to get rid of and just one surface feeding cutworm can sever the stems of many young plants in a single night’s feeding. You may need to do weekly applications of insecticide containing either chlorpyrifos, diazinon or carbaryl for quite some time before all cutworm damage ceases. Often, the best way to prevent cutworms is by applying cutworm collars to your tomato plants. These cutworm collars can be made by using stiff paper, milk cartons, aluminum foil or even carefully cut tin cans. Place the cutworm collars firmly in the soil around the base of the tomato plant and make sure the cutworm collars are at least 2 inches high. This should help prevent cutworms from climbing tomato plants and causing damage to the tomato plants and other susceptible plants in the garden.
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