- Vegetable owl responsible for caterpillar feeding on tomatoes
- Scent traps are used to get the moths on the collar
- Combat caterpillars on tomatoes in harmony with nature
- tips and tricks
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The sight shakes hobby gardeners to the core: Large caterpillars crawl over the tomatoes and eat the fruit and leaves. You can find out here which pests are involved and how to drive away the brood.
Vegetable owl responsible for caterpillar feeding on tomatoes
The vegetable owl is a moth whose prey range primarily includes tomatoes in the greenhouse. The females lay their green eggs on the tomato plants, from which the caterpillars hatch after a week. These attack the fruits and leaves from summer to autumn.
With a length of 45 millimeters, the pests are easy to recognize. Nevertheless, the feeding damage is the first thing that catches the eye because the caterpillars hide during the day. If you don't take countermeasures at the first sign of an infestation, you risk an explosive increase in the voracious brood. If tomato cultivation had been exemplary until then, the harvest is still in danger so close to the end of the season.
Scent traps are used to get the moths on the collar
For responsible hobby gardeners, the use of chemical preparations is out of the question. In biological pest control, a method has been developed according to which the vegetable owl is defeated at its own game. We are talking about pheromone traps that simulate a scent that attracts and traps moths willing to mate. In the hobby greenhouse, a trap is enough to put an end to the spook.
It is important to note that scent traps are only suitable for controlling caterpillars on tomatoes in the greenhouse. Outdoors, the pheromones invite all the vegetable owls in the area into your garden.
Combat caterpillars on tomatoes in harmony with nature
Where the use of pheromone traps does not make sense, the following natural control methods can be used:
- collect the caterpillars early in the morning
- apply biological repellent preparations based on neem oil
- the predatory bug Macrolophus pygmaeus takes on the caterpillars
- Protect beds with close-meshed insect nets
In addition, researchers found that Bacillus thuringiensis is a natural repellent for caterpillars. The bacterium has proven its worth in organic farming because it only affects the pests.
tips and tricks
If the scent traps are upgraded with UV light or a lamp, this measure increases efficiency significantly. In this way, the nocturnal moths are pinched from two sides: pheromones and light.