Tomato Pest Alert

It’s a new one to me – I was in the greenhouse watering the tomatoes when I noticed that the leaves were being eaten and there were caterpillar droppings scattered about. I came indoors and did a quick web search and established it is the Tomato Moth caterpillar. The suggested solution was to give each plant a firm shake – and sure enough caterpillars were soon falling off the plants (as well as the occasional unripe tomato) onto the soil. I gathered up approximately 20 and will repeat this action daily. The caterpillars can be green, but are generally brown like the one I photographed. They can defoliate the plants and munch their way into the tomatoes so are a pest not to be ignored. They are probably one of the few downsides to the glorious weather – rather like butterflies the moths are having a bumper year.