So Texans, Where do you Stand on Tomatoes?

[TomatoNut95]

Texas tomato growers be aware I found 15 tobacco hornworm eggs on my tomatoes this morning, none apparently that have hatched, but these are the first of 2024. They are coming to a tomato garden near you.

Yikes. What do the eggs look like, idk if I've ever seen their eggs.

[karstopography]

Texas tomato growers be aware I found 15 tobacco hornworm eggs on my tomatoes this morning, none apparently that have hatched, but these are the first of 2024. They are coming to a tomato garden near you.

Yikes. What do the eggs look like, idk if I've ever seen their eggs.

About the size of a grain of quinoa and with a chartreuse tint. Not necessarily perfectly round, pretty close to round, but smooth looking and kind of pretty.

I found another ten for a total of 25 eggs. They are all single eggs, not clusters, and normally laid on the top of the leaves, plus occasionally flowering stems. Most are 3-4 feet off the ground, but they could be lower or higher.

[karstopography]

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Found six more THW eggs on my potatoes. These look more white and less chartreuse than what I typically see on the tomatoes, but otherwise identical.

[karstopography]

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Carpenter Bees getting very active all over the garden. Squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, they are there in force.

First color break goes to A’Grappoli D’Inverno.

Hoy revving up.

I was gone Sunday and Monday. Amazing how much growth happened in about 60 hours of not seeing the tomatoes.

[TomatoNut95]

Your carpenter bees are solid black? Neat! Mine have yellow fuzz and have become a nuisance burrowing holes around on the house. I plan to spray vinegar or some other strong smell in their holes to see if that deters them like the internet claims. I don't want to kill my fuzzies, just try and teach them it's not good for them to weaken the structures that hold this crummy house together by making long tunnels in the wood.

[karstopography]

Your carpenter bees are solid black? Neat! Mine have yellow fuzz and have become a nuisance burrowing holes around on the house. I plan to spray vinegar or some other strong smell in their holes to see if that deters them like the internet claims. I don't want to kill my fuzzies, just try and teach them it's not good for them to weaken the structures that hold this crummy house together by making long tunnels in the wood.

Yes, most all the ones I see on the vegetables and bamboo are solid black. I do get some big bees at times that aren’t solid black, if I remember correctly some are carpenter bees and some are bumblebees. I’m trying to recall if the not all black carpenter bees are a different species or just a different gender.

I’ve seen carpenter bees infest and drill numerous holes in wooden eaves and facia boards. Fencing, too. I would not blame anyone for trying to drive carpenter bees from damaging their structures. Same with termites, they have all of nature, but please stay out of my home.

[karstopography]

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Found 32 more hornworm eggs today. These were all laid yesterday evening I suppose. Some on the underside of the tomato leaves as well. Black from Tula had nine and Brandywine Cowlick’s had six eggs.

I suppose I’ll be spraying Spinosad soon.

[TomatoNut95]

Yikes. I need to start inspecting my plants more closely. But I'm literally surrounded by woods so they could come from anywhere around. Except for parasitic wasps and birds what other natural predator would eat young hornworms?
I've put big hornworms on my neighbors birdfeeder before and watched the fun.

[karstopography]

Yikes. I need to start inspecting my plants more closely. But I'm literally surrounded by woods so they could come from anywhere around. Except for parasitic wasps and birds what other natural predator would eat young hornworms?
I've put big hornworms on my neighbors birdfeeder before and watched the fun.

Same here with the woods surrounding the garden. I haven’t seen anything go after hornworms. Bt or spinosad are deadly effective on them, especially in the early stages. I probably will spray Spinosad in the next day or two as there is no way I found every egg.

The catfish take care of any hornworms I somehow missed and didn’t spray, but decided to pick off the tomatoes. Towards the end of the season I tend to get very lax with spraying anything or being very vigilant about bugs.

[karstopography]

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Aside from the hornworm eggs, the tomatoes are doing great. Very pleased so far.

[SpookyShoe]

Chocolate Cherry

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Carmello is the most robust plant so far.

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Paul Robeson

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[TomatoNut95]

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This has not been a good week for me and now something's wrong with my Delicious plant. My Nicky Crain also looks slightly infected. This leaf problem showed up after keeping the beds covered/protected from the severe storms we had this past week.

[karstopography]

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Getting more color breaking with now Principe Borghese and Creamsicle Grape joining A’Grappoli D’Inverno. I picked the solo ripe “winter grape”.

None of the bigger fruited types have broken color yet. It’s now not quite 60 days post transplanting.

[Wildcat82]

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This has not been a good week for me and now something's wrong with my Delicious plant. My Nicky Crain also looks slightly infected. This leaf problem showed up after keeping the beds covered/protected from the severe storms we had this past week.

My guess would be russet mites any time I see that stripling on leaves. Seems early for russets though with our earlier summer heat waves the past couple years, it seems like russets are attacking earlier as well. Try misting your infected plants every other day for a 7 to 10 days with a 50% rubbing alcohol/water spray and see if that helps.

[TomatoNut95]

Are russet mites the same thing as thrips because that's what I think it is.

[MissS]

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This has not been a good week for me and now something's wrong with my Delicious plant. My Nicky Crain also looks slightly infected. This leaf problem showed up after keeping the beds covered/protected from the severe storms we had this past week.

I think that you have mites. Get them now before they get out of hand. Thrips are not the same as mites and they are much harder to get rid of.

[karstopography]

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Growing collection of tomatoes. The two Principe Borghese got knocked off the vine when I was fiddling with putting a plastic snake next to them. The other one is Creamsicle Grape. I couldn’t resist picking it.

[TomatoNut95]

@karstopography Does the toy snake work well? Birds aren't a nuisance in my garden but I have a life-like rubber one I got on Amazon just in case.

But speaking of birds, this little cutie was in my backyard this evening. He even let me pet him. ❤

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[MissS]

I'm sad to say that it didn't work for me.

[karstopography]

@karstopography Does the toy snake work well? Birds aren't a nuisance in my garden but I have a life-like rubber one I got on Amazon just in case.

But speaking of birds, this little cutie was in my backyard this evening. He even let me pet him. ❤

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Birds haven’t been a problem here but squirrels have been. The snakes in my experience might buy me a little extra time based on using them last year and not having the snakes the year before that. We had a bumper crop of acorns here in 2023, but those might not suffice or they might rot. I’ve got organza or tulle gift bags to deploy if the snakes don’t work. I’ve also got hot lead if the bags don’t do the trick. We have a bumper crop of squirrels this year I’m afraid.