Tomato Cutworms

Greetings:

I've been using a homemade insecticidal soap that someone here gave me, but I was mentioning to someone today on the phone while I was in the garden that I thought the tomatoes were going to fruit, and they immediately SCREAMED, "get something to kill cutworms' they'll wipe out all your tomatoes in one night!!!!"

She scared the (bleep) out of me. I purchased "Organocide" as a backup, but I don't see 'cutworms' mentioned.

Does anyone have a (preferably organic) solution to 'cutworms'?

thanks in advance.

We wrapped aluminum foil around the stems before we planted them than removed them later.

If your tomatoes are ready to fruit I would think they would be large enough that a cutworm would not cause much damage at this stage. Cutworms usually go after smaller plants and seedlings and cut them at the stem. But I just read on Google that the cutworms in Florida do feed on foliage and fruits of older plants but generally only if they are not staked. Are yours staked or on the ground? In any event I don't think you need to panic but keep an eye out and stake if you can. Good luck!

Cutworm eggs are tiny, pretty much invisible to the naked eye. The adult female lays her eggs at the base of the plant, and when they hatch, they wrap around the stem and cut it off. gardadore is right too, the adults tend to choose smaller plants, so that their young have no trouble eating right off the bat, and larvae on older plants often have a tough enough stem that it's difficult for the larvae to break through the stem.

I do similar to cando, except that I use double-layered old (ripped) pantyhose at the time of planting them out. All you have to do to prevent cutworms becoming a problem is make it more difficult for the larvae to burrow into that stem. It doesn't take much That may not be a whole lot of help to you now, but it can save you a lot of worry next season!

Now, for your stage, I have heard that white wood ash (as in burn non-pressure treated wood until the ashes are white, not black) spread around the plants works, though I have never tried it. I've also heard of people putting sticks or nails RIGHT up on the stem at the ground level, with no space in between. The idea is that the cutworm can't wrap around the stem to cut it off. Again, I haven't tried this, as my pantyhose recycling program has worked out well for me, but hey, if you're worried, it's worth a shot!

Cheers!

thank you, Needsnewbrain (love that nickname), gardadore, and cando.

my tomato plants are only 18-24" tall. I just saw some buds yesterday, so hopefully soon, I'll have flowers and then (hopefully) tomatoes.

is it too late to wrap the aluminum around the stem? I contacted the company for the organocide and they replied back that I need to add natural pyethrin to the organocide so it 'sticks' to the larvae if there are any.

I have absolutely no idea where to get white wood ash, though. I'm still looking for some alfalfa mulch, LOL!

have a nice day.