Tomato season is here! I harvested my first tomatoes last week from the Super Sweet 100 variety.  I would like to say that I was generous with my harvest, but those first few tomatoes did not make it out of the garden.  There’s nothing better than snacking on vine-ripened tomatoes as you work in the garden!

The Master Gardeners work diligently every week in our Demonstration Garden. Part of that work includes scouting for pests in our Integrated Pest Management program.  This week, Master Gardener Jim Williams found evidence of tomato fruitworm.

The tomato fruitworm adults are medium-sized, tan or brown moths that lay eggs on the upper and lower surfaces of tomato plant leaves. The tomato fruitworm larvae are brown, green, pink, or sometimes yellow with a dark lateral line.  They are 1.5mm long at hatching and can be up to 25mm long at maturity.

The larvae feed on the tender leaves of the plant and tunnel into the tomato fruit. A single tomato fruitworm can move from one tomato to another to feed, damaging several tomatoes.  Tomato fruitworm also feed on corn, cotton, and peppers.

Tomato fruitworm can be controlled organically with sprays of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or Spinosad. Monitor your plants closely for signs of eggs on the leaves or damage to the green fruit.