If the natural balance in tomato cultivation gets upset, pests appear out of nowhere. The following lines illustrate how you can recognize the most common culprits early on and fight them vehemently.
Two pests have specialized in tomatoes
Within the vast array of crop pests, the following two culprits primarily target tomatoes.
Tomato leaf miners - (Liriomyza bryoniae)
The hatched larvae eat their way through the leaf tissue in clearly recognizable mining tunnels.
- Remove affected leaves immediately
- to combat beneficial insects, such as the parasitic wasp
Tomato Rust Mite - (Aculops lycopersici)
The infestation manifests itself very late in the form of yellow, withering leaves and brown shoots. The fruit cork and fall off.
- use predatory mites at an early stage
- if the infestation pressure is high, dispose of the entire tomato plant
Omnipresent pests do not spare tomatoes
It's often the usual suspects among the garden pests that afflict your home-grown tomatoes. The following candidates stand out in particular:
Whitefly - (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
The 2 millimeter small, white-powdered insects cavort on the underside of the leaves. Here they suck the life out of the plant. When shaken, a white cloud of these pests rises. In the field, a close-meshed net protects the plants from infestation. Beneficial insects such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps have proven themselves in the greenhouse.(22.99€)
Thrips, thrips - (Thysanoptera)
The tiny, black insects cause mottling on the leaves and fruits while sucking the sap from them. Meanwhile, the larvae damage the roots in the soil with their feeding activity. As a precaution, hang up blue glue boards. Beneficial insects such as lacewing larvae, hoverflies and predatory mites keep an infestation under control. Repeatedly squirt a soft soap solution and garlic tea.
tips and tricks
In environmentally friendly pest control, the use of beneficial insects is becoming increasingly popular. Since parasitic wasps and their counterparts can only rarely be bred in the hobby garden, specialist dealers have concentrated on this offer. The little helpers are delivered in special transport containers, including precise instructions for spreading in the bed or greenhouse.