What's eating my tomatos!!!

[richard18459]

Any suggestions as to what may be eating my cherry tomatos? I've got 6 cherry tomato plants in an unheated greenhouse. Each plant has lots of fruit and some have ripened and been eaten already. However, today when watering them I found a couple of the tomatoes have been nibbled and I also found droppings on some of the adjacent leaves. Also, a couple of the nearby leaves have turned a dappled sort of brown colour. Any suggestions??

[Buenchico]

One obvious possibility (including a photograph of a tomato actually being attacked) is here:
http://www.extension....ticulture/dg7561.html

However your reference to droppings suggests a somewhat bigger predator, namely mice. A quick web search shows that they seem to be rather partial to a nice sweet tomato,e.g. here:
http://forums.gardenw...msg0216015918774.html

Chris

[Buenchico]

PS: Mice have no bladder control, so they're constantly peeing everywhere they go. That might explain the leaf staining/bleaching you've noticed.

[rowanwitch]

Mice...I agree

[agardner09]

I agree with the two previous answers, I'd just like to add if you feel you need to use humane traps to solve the problem then don't be tempted to release the little dears close by. You need to take them at least two miles away so that they cant find their way home.

[richard18459]

Thanks ...... mice it is then!

[rosyrussell]

It will be caterpillars. Look very carefully at the leaves/fruit and you will see a fairly large and full caterpillar on the leaf edge. They are very good at disguising themselves, by taking on the colour of what they have eaten, so some may be leaf green, some more reddish in tinge. I think they are the caterpillar of some sort of cabbage white butterfly. I had this happen to my tomatoes last year, and it took me ages to actually see the buggers!