Bugs Ate My Tomatoes - Please Help!

ChloeMartin86 · April 13, 2016

Hi everybody!

I have a serious issue with my tomatoes, which I grow in containers and under a shed in my backyard. They were growing very well, but once they started to ripen these nasty stinky bugs arrived and started eating up all my hard efforts... I've never had this issue before I decided to go all organic on my vegetables, so now I have no idea what to do. Do you know an organic solution to get rid of the nasty bugs and save the tomatoes? I already did some research, and a few sources suggested that I will have to replace the soil in the containers, because these things can lay eggs in the soil or something. I have a contractor which took care of installing the containers and the soil, and I also call them sometimes to take care of the garden while I'm out of town - http://www.gardeners-melbourne.com.au/turf-laying/ , but I don't want to call them until I find out if I can deal with the problem quickly and on my own.
So, I would really appreciate all kinds of help you can offer - tips, possible solutions, ideas how to prevent this from happening in the future and everything like that. Also, do I really have to change the soil in the containers? I'm attaching pictures of the bugs and my tomatoes to help:

rhoder551 · April 13, 2016

I use the micro mesh bags sold at grocery stores to protect my melons but so far haven't had any thing so tiny that needs to be excluded. You might want to try the lightest weight agibon or some other row cover cloth. I like Peaceful Valley Farm Supply...sorry, could not manage to attach a link.

Starlight · April 13, 2016

Here's a thread that might help you.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=38186

ginger2778 · April 13, 2016

That big gouged bite doesn't look like bugs to me, it looks like an animal. Specifically, a rat.Did it happen overnight? Rats, possums are nocturnal. The stink bugs you are showing make little speckles all over the fruit, not big gouges. They are an additional problem. You definitely have stinkbug damage too.
I have seen smaller gouges with worms and beetles, but not big bites like that.
Some kind of animal, not sure which. Sorry for the bad news.

zeroma · April 13, 2016

possums will take a few bites as well as groundhogs. the hogs did some real damage to our tomato plants last year. however, possums aren't all bad, as are the grounhogs. They eat slug and grubs and usually don't do much damage to the garden from what I recently read.

I still don't want possums in the garden because even though they will 'taste' a tomato or two' that is one more than I want to share.

Stinkbug will also spread disease in your plants when they poke the holes in to get the juice. If you cut open a tomato with the little specks, you will see the lighter color or a pale yellow 'core' from their straw like mouth part. It will make the texture bad, lumpy/stringy.

Sorry you are having this bug/critter issue. It stinks. PUN intended.

Zeroma

b54red · April 14, 2016

I was able to wipe out a heavy infestation of both stink bugs and leaf footed bugs last year but I didn't do it totally organically. I did use soapy water and DE but I added some strong Permethrin and sprayed all my plants with it hitting all surfaces with a good mist and it totally wiped them out for months. Permethrin has only a one day waiting period on tomatoes and has a relatively low toxicity to most mammals except cats. It is the ingredient in most dog shampoos and dips for removal of fleas. I'm sure more potent poisons would work but I try to not go more toxic than Permethrin or Pyrethrin(organic) if I can help it and only when I feel that other milder methods aren't doing the job or the insect population has gotten out of hand. I use a food grade DE that really extends the killing for a much longer time unless it is washed off but it is not pest specific and will kill most insects whether pests or beneficials. I usually don't use either in my garden til the beneficial population has gotten too low or is non existent which usually happens once it gets really hot in late May or early June.

I think you may have either rats, mice or squirrels eating your fruits also and that is another totally different problem. If it is rats you can usually catch them at it very early in the mornings just before dawn or late at night. If you find out it is rats you need to bait them with something that will kill them as soon as possible because they can wreck your crop fast. They will keep coming back every night til you have nothing left. Squirrels can be almost as bad but if you can kill a few of them it will sometimes scare off most of the others at least for a while.

Bill

April 13, 2016	#1
ChloeMartin86 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Melbourne, VIC Posts: 1	Bugs Ate My Tomatoes - Please Help! Hi everybody! I have a serious issue with my tomatoes, which I grow in containers and under a shed in my backyard. They were growing very well, but once they started to ripen these nasty stinky bugs arrived and started eating up all my hard efforts... I've never had this issue before I decided to go all organic on my vegetables, so now I have no idea what to do. Do you know an organic solution to get rid of the nasty bugs and save the tomatoes? I already did some research, and a few sources suggested that I will have to replace the soil in the containers, because these things can lay eggs in the soil or something. I have a contractor which took care of installing the containers and the soil, and I also call them sometimes to take care of the garden while I'm out of town - http://www.gardeners-melbourne.com.au/turf-laying/ , but I don't want to call them until I find out if I can deal with the problem quickly and on my own. So, I would really appreciate all kinds of help you can offer - tips, possible solutions, ideas how to prevent this from happening in the future and everything like that. Also, do I really have to change the soil in the containers? I'm attaching pictures of the bugs and my tomatoes to help:

April 13, 2016	#2
rhoder551 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 219	I use the micro mesh bags sold at grocery stores to protect my melons but so far haven't had any thing so tiny that needs to be excluded. You might want to try the lightest weight agibon or some other row cover cloth. I like Peaceful Valley Farm Supply...sorry, could not manage to attach a link.

April 13, 2016	#3
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	Here's a thread that might help you. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=38186

April 13, 2016	#4
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	That big gouged bite doesn't look like bugs to me, it looks like an animal. Specifically, a rat.Did it happen overnight? Rats, possums are nocturnal. The stink bugs you are showing make little speckles all over the fruit, not big gouges. They are an additional problem. You definitely have stinkbug damage too. I have seen smaller gouges with worms and beetles, but not big bites like that. Some kind of animal, not sure which. Sorry for the bad news.

April 13, 2016	#5
zeroma Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 637	possums will take a few bites as well as groundhogs. the hogs did some real damage to our tomato plants last year. however, possums aren't all bad, as are the grounhogs. They eat slug and grubs and usually don't do much damage to the garden from what I recently read. I still don't want possums in the garden because even though they will 'taste' a tomato or two' that is one more than I want to share. Stinkbug will also spread disease in your plants when they poke the holes in to get the juice. If you cut open a tomato with the little specks, you will see the lighter color or a pale yellow 'core' from their straw like mouth part. It will make the texture bad, lumpy/stringy. Sorry you are having this bug/critter issue. It stinks. PUN intended. Zeroma

April 14, 2016	#6
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I was able to wipe out a heavy infestation of both stink bugs and leaf footed bugs last year but I didn't do it totally organically. I did use soapy water and DE but I added some strong Permethrin and sprayed all my plants with it hitting all surfaces with a good mist and it totally wiped them out for months. Permethrin has only a one day waiting period on tomatoes and has a relatively low toxicity to most mammals except cats. It is the ingredient in most dog shampoos and dips for removal of fleas. I'm sure more potent poisons would work but I try to not go more toxic than Permethrin or Pyrethrin(organic) if I can help it and only when I feel that other milder methods aren't doing the job or the insect population has gotten out of hand. I use a food grade DE that really extends the killing for a much longer time unless it is washed off but it is not pest specific and will kill most insects whether pests or beneficials. I usually don't use either in my garden til the beneficial population has gotten too low or is non existent which usually happens once it gets really hot in late May or early June. I think you may have either rats, mice or squirrels eating your fruits also and that is another totally different problem. If it is rats you can usually catch them at it very early in the mornings just before dawn or late at night. If you find out it is rats you need to bait them with something that will kill them as soon as possible because they can wreck your crop fast. They will keep coming back every night til you have nothing left. Squirrels can be almost as bad but if you can kill a few of them it will sometimes scare off most of the others at least for a while. Bill