Learn About Two Tomato-Eating Insects

Know Your Enemies

I am going to be straight up front here.  There are so many tomato
pests that there is no way I could cover it all here, but in our
ebook there are pages and pages of ways to control those pesky
insects and come out on top.  Right now visit
"How to Grow Tomatoes Successfully" at
http://tinyurl.com/44vg35g
 
Let's get started detailing the insects who are waiting to call your
tomato plant home.  Well, at least two of them.  Of all the insects,
the most noticeable invader is the hornworm.  When I say they're
noticeable, that's exactly what I mean!

Measuring three to four inches long, the hornworms are actually
caterpillars whose menu include the leaves at the top of your
plants.  Thankfully, they are large enough to see and can easily
be picked off, that's if you don't mind touching those big fat
suckers!  I hate touching them!  I wear gloves because I just can't
bear the feel of them.  You can also find some insecticides to keep
them at bay.

Another caterpillar -- although not nearly as huge as that hornworm
-- is the cutworm.  These guys are tiny, in fact.  Feeding on your
plants at night, while you're sleeping, there's nothing stopping
them once they start working.  It's not unusual for cutworms to
actually eat right through seedlings to the ground level.

While it may be that horrific, it really needn't be.  You can
actually easily deter these creatures with a few simple steps.  
First, you can prevent damage by placing collars around your
seedlings -- and you don't buy these collars in pet stores -- you
make them yourself.  You can use paper, cardboard, aluminum foil or
even a disposable aluminum pie tin.  If you use the pie tin, you'll
want to cut and mold it approximately 10 inches long and four inches
high.

Bend it to form a circle or cylinder, then staple it.  If you're
using other materials, follow the same instructions.  Then sink the
collar into the soil a good inch or so encircling each individual
seedling.  When you're done, you'll only see about three inches of
this peeking up above the ground. Huh, that will stop those things
crawling up the plant!