How to Kill Cut Worms on Tomato Plants
Countless variables work against you when you plant and care for tomatoes--too little or too much water, the amount of sunlight and insects, to name a few. Although the amount of water and sunlight can be controlled, to an extent, insects, including cutworms, seem to come at the plants from every direction. Cutworms kill tomato plants by wrapping around the stalk of the plant and gnawing through it. Because of their deadly nature, it is important to take out the cutworms before they eat your entire tomato garden. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Carefully inspect the tomato plants every day. Remove any cutworms you see on or around the plants. Dispose of the cutworms by either tossing them in a different area of your yard or killing them.
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2
Cut out and remove any weeds from around the tomato plants. This is going to reduce the space where the cutworms can lay their eggs.
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Add compost around the tomato plants. Do not use any form of manure. Manure encourages the laying of cutworm eggs and should be avoided.
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4
Place aluminum foil around the base of all of the tomato plants. Cutworms feed by wrapping around the base of the plant. If they cannot do this, they can not eat the tomato plant and are forced to either die off or move on.
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5
Apply a pesticide like carbaryl, cyfluthrin or permethrin to the tomato plants if you have an extreme case of cutworms.
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