Growing tomatoes - what pests attack tomato plants?
Growing Tomatoes?
It is very satisfying but pests love tomato plants. Here are some top pests to watch out for;
🍅 During the seedling stage - Fungus Gnats (Sciarid Fly)
🍅 Aphids when grown under glass or in a tunnel
🍅 Red Spider Mites - they love a hot environment, pruning helps massively
Prevention is better than cure and being clean and tidy really helps. If you had a pest last year it is very likely to come back this year so you could get your predators in place before you have a problem.
Pest control for tomato plant loving pests
Fungus Gnats, Sciarid Fly
Fungus Gnats thrive in warm moist conditions where the larvae feast on the roots of your plants. The best combination of treatments is Fruit and Veg nematodes and yellow sticky traps. Get this failsafe combo for under £15 including delivery here.
Aphids
There are many types of aphid (often called greenfly or blackfly) but luckily you don't need to be able to identify them to be able to treat them. At the first sign of aphids reach for Horticultural Soap and there are a range of awesome aphid eaters and predators, the most popular are ladybird larvae, starting at £20. Find them all here.
Red Spider Mite
One of the main reasons that spider mites are a fan of tomato plants is that they are often kept in really warm conditions. Spider mite love hot dry greenhouses so keep your plants well misted and open some vents. At the first sign or spider mites you can introduce the Andersoni sachets. You can use these as a preventative measure is spider mites have been a problem for you in the past.
If you start to see webbing then the plants are infected and you need to go for the stronger control. Find out more about spider mites and their treatments here.
Whitefly
Although not mentioned in the top 3 many growers would put whitefly up there. Again this is partly due to the pests's love of greenhouses but they are quite common on tomato plants. If you have whitefly you will notice small white moth like creatures that swarm into a cloud when disturbed. Browse Whitefly Controls.
Personally I find that the slugs eat all my tomatoes given half a chance, reduce slug numbers with Nemaslug.
If you have any pest question that you can't find help with, just ask! Email plantcare@ladybirdplantcare.co.uk