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Something Eating my Tomato Plant

Hi all,

So I had a tomato plant that was stretching at a rate of knots in my little greenhouse, and last week when the hot and sunny weather came back, I may have got a little excited and decided to plant it out for a bit to give it a chance to stretch...



Stretch it has, however this week, I noticed something‘s been eating away at it, but I can’t for the life of me find the culprit. I go out multiple times a day trying to catch it and I never find it. 



I think the plant is happy where it is, I think it’s come on a lot in the past week and I’ve noticed the start of some flowers appearing, but what could be demolishing the foliage? My plan was to bring it back indoors at the end of summer (if it survived in the ground that long), but I’m tempted to just bring it back in now and accept that I’ll never be able to grow a tomato plant successfully outdoors through the summer months 🤣 

Any advice welcomed. 

Posts

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Tomato moth caterpillar?  
    Utah, USA.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Possibly slugs or snails ... but that bit of damage is nothing to worry about ... your tomato plant is healthy and growing nicely and you’ll soon have some little tomatoes growing 🍅 

    I wouldnt worry about that.

    Given that you’ve got a short growing season I’d stop the plant at the leaf joint above the third truss so that it puts all its energy into getting the fruit ripe. 

    Good luck 😉 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • @Dovefromabove thank you that’s great advice. I wouldn’t have thought of doing that, however it makes sense. I’ve been pinching out any growth coming out in between the side stems and the main stem but I’ll definitely stop it so I have a better chance of getting some toms 🍅 
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