How to Kill Tomato Cutworms
Cutworms look like caterpillars and are destructive garden pests that eat the leaves and stems of tomato plants and other garden vegetables, including beans and peppers. They get their name because they damage tomatoes and plants by sawing or cutting off the stems, causing the plant to deteriorate. While there are cultural methods to control the worms, if you want to kill them you must use a chemical pesticide treatment. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Garden sprayer
- Pesticide containing carbaryl, cyfluthrin, methomyl or permethrin
- Water
- Diatomaceous earth
- Garden tiller
Instructions
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Verify that you actually have a cutworm infestation by examining the tomato plants in the evening or after nightfall, which is when they feed. Look for small caterpillar-like worms crawling over the plants. Identification is necessary to ensure you are treating the proper garden pest.
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Fill a garden sprayer with a pesticide containing carbaryl, cyfluthrin, methomyl or permethrin. Dilute the product with water as instructed on the label and then close the sprayer. Shake the sprayer for 30 seconds to mix the contents.
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Direct the spray nozzle at the ground and spray the pesticide on the soil under each tomato plant until it is damp and turns darker than the surrounding soil.
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Spray the main stem of the tomato where it emerges from the ground and upward to the first horizontal branch. It is not necessary to spray above this height,as cutworms must crawl up the stem to access the remainder of the plant.
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Tips & Warnings
To kill cutworms organically, spread diatomaceous earth underneath the base of each tomato plant. Diatomaceous earth consists of sharp-edged shells, which cut the worms and kill them.
To ensure total cutworm eradication, till the entire site with a garden tiller the following spring at least two weeks before planting tomatoes or other vegetables.
Read the pesticide instructions carefully and apply only those that are safe for use on edible vegetables.
References
- Photo Credit BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
