Mkulima today we cover how to deal with some destructive pests in tomatoes farming. Have you seen tomato leaf miner on your tomato crops in the past week? If you planted tomatoes in October remember the best time to check is after a period of three weeks after planting.

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pests in tomatoes farming

Until then you can use other methods.

Actively monitor the tomato crops throughout the growing period. Consider taking action when you notice 1 – 3 adult moths or larvae are found per week.

Use pheromone water traps the ideal ratio on the farm is 16 traps per acre to catch and kill adult moths.

Replace the pheromone after every 6 weeks if you planted in November the best time to take action will be 3 weeks after planting.

Dealing with whiteflies in tomato farming

Whiteflies are small white insects found on the underside of tomato leaves. They fly from foliage when plants are disturbed both in open field farming and under greenhouse farming.

The whiteflies suck sap from plants and excrete honeydew substance.

Sooty mold quickly establishes on the honeydew and may spread all over the plant leaves. Tomato crops are weakened by the feeding of the huge numbers of whiteflies.

As a result of this frenzy feeding the plant loses a lot of its nutrients resulting in low yields and poor fruit production.

The sooty mold that forms on the leaves impairs the leaf functions.

They normally cause stunting in growth and poor fruit formation. Uproot all plants after the final harvest as it will help in controlling the spread of insects like whiteflies.

In the process of uprooting all plants also clear weeds, Irish potatoes, pepper, and eggplants in the vicinity of the tomato crops.

Practice good crop rotation during the entire season.

Management

You can also manage this by planting tall border crops like maize, sorghum, millet to help reduce the ability of whiteflies to fly to either your greenhouse or open field farm.

Also, apply products with Azadirachtin like Nemraj super and Imidacloprid like confidor to control the whitefly in your nursery and fields.

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