FYI....just put the straws in around the stems. (don't have toilet paper or paper towel rolls yet but it's a start)! LOL *crosses fingers*
You can also wrap the stem with foil. Just wrap about three inches up from the ground and twice around the stem. Will not interfere with stem growth as it expands as the plant grows.
So many good ideas. Thanks, guys....much appreciated. I lived most of my life in California..central valley, north..and I never had these problems. Now here in the Carolinas, I am at a loss as to the difference in soil (sand as opposed to clay)...No tomato worms, no cutworms, I watered every day....didn't need much fertilizer...etc. Here, I am still figuring this out and I have been here 5 years. Hope springs eternal...maybe this year will be a good year for my gardening skills. I hope I haven't lost my green thumb.
Hello all..I am just adding to the ideas for stopping cutworms from eating tomato plant stems. We had suggestions from straws to toilet paper rolls. I just found another idea that might work better then the thin toilet paper or paper towel rolls. It's the rolls in Glad Wrap or similar. They are way stronger and would probably not be as affected as readily by water. Too late for me now, but I am going to save them until next year. I think you will have to use a craft knife to cut them to size. just sayin'.....
I used to use those throw-away plastic coffee cups with the bottom cut out when combating this this larva. I have to say though, I remove it after a couple of weeks. Our cut worms cannot chew a stem that is beyond a certain diameter. I hope that you get the upper hand with those bad boys there. They can be quite devastating.
wow, there are so many ideas for the cut worm problem. My plants are good....so far. I used plastic straws this time, 4 around each stem. Now I think I just have to be on the lookout for the tomato worm. Oh, goody.
Tomatoes Hello Carolina girl. I grew up in South Carolina, but have been a Michigan woman since 1955. I still love the Carolinas. I tried yogurt cups with the bottom cut out, but the method I now use seems to work very well. My companion cut wire hangers into sections about 5 to 6 inches. I slip one right against each tomato, pepper and broccoli plant, half below ground and half above ground.. I haven't lost a plant sine we began using this method. I have set out two tomatoes in a bale of straw for the first time and am hoping it grows. I heard about it, but never tried it before.
growing pains ..HI.....the yogurt cups are a really good idea. When I had the cutworm problem, the plants were in pots. This year, and the years before the pots, they were planted in the ground...with no cutworms. I don't know if this made a difference. So now, I am waiting for the tomato worms to appear..and also see if the squirrels will get them when the toms are ripe. I think I might pick them when still green (if the squirrels are a problem) and let them ripen on the window sill. OR go buy the at the store! haha!
carolinagirl, If rodents are a problem, sprinkle HOT pepper around you garden. they don't like it and will avoid getting it in their mouth/nose and on their feet.
Tomatoes Cutworms in pots? I am puzzled as to how cutworms got into your soil if the tomatoes were in pots? Curiouser and curiouser. I will do almost anything to avoid having to eat store bought tomatoes, Gotta have home grown or at least local grown.
Yep, the plants were completely cut off at soil level...completely disconnected from their roots. Maybe the cutworms crawled into the drain holes at the bottom of the pots. Or maybe they can climb up the sides? I just brought my first three big, still green toms inside to ripen. I'm not taken any chances with the squirrels.
You know, carolinagirl, I was wondering if the culpret might be the larvae of the Tipula paludosa, or perhaps the T. oleracea-- or crane fly (sometimes called grandaddy longlegs). The females penetrate the soil with their abdomens to lay their eggs. These things are a bit of a problem in my gardens and each spring I do rigorous spot checks to look for them...especially where I will be planting very young and small plantlets like lettuce, endive etc.
Sjoerd, I really don't know. The pots had new potting soil in them before I transplanted the toms. They are in the ground this year..no pots...and are doing well so far. Like I said before, now I am waiting for the squirrels to discover them. grrrrr. Maybe the culprits were already in the planting mix that the tomatoes were growing in when I bought them at the garden center. hmmmmm!
