Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tomato Plant Mystery

Two days ago I walked outside to find one of the two tomato plants that I've planted in the ground dead. Something had decapitated the Hawaiian Tropic plant by boring a hole completely through its stem. I couldn't find any bug, worm, or otherwise guilty-looking party anywhere around the plant.
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Then, yesterday morning I walked out and found the same thing had happened to the other in-ground plant. This time the perpetrator chewed multiple holes through the plants stem, basically leaving it in pieces on the ground. I still haven't seen any bugs or worms that might be responsible. I hope whatever it is doesn't find its way to my container plants. Any ideas?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No idea what's doing the bad deed but have you tried to enclose the stem to try to keep varmints out?

Anonymous said...

Are they cutworms? If so, you can prevent them from doing any more damage by putting a cuff around the base of your remaining plants.

Julie said...

Sorry for your bad fortune...hope you can find out the cause!

Tucson Russ said...

I think fern is right. Cutworms will eat right through the stems of new plants. They don't bother mature plants. Put a cuff of cardboard about the thickness of a cereal box around the stem about an inch above and below the soil line. Good luck