Tomato Plant Pests in Florida

Tomatoes, the most commonly grown vegetable in the home garden, are subject to infestation by a variety of vegetable garden pests. Year-round gardening is possible in the warm Florida weather, which means tomato plant pests also thrive year round, maintains the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Extension. The IFAS Extension reports that winter temperatures do not get cold enough to decrease the overall number of pests that plague Florida-grown tomatoes. A number of pesticides eliminate tomato plant pests, but that is often no consolation to the gardener who discovers her once healthy tomato plants turned into a pile of dead, diseased or wilting vegetation overnight.

Whiteflies are heat-loving, tiny insects that suck the juices from tomato plant tissues. This leads to wilted plants, stunted growth or death of the tomato plant. Whiteflies secrete honeydew, a sticky substance that covers the leaves, stems and fruit of the plant. A black, sooty mold often grows on the honeydew. The moldy substance covers the leaves and stems of the plant, blocking sunlight and preventing photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process in which plants use the energy from sunlight to create nutrients necessary for growth. If the sooty mold grows on the tomatoes, they become inedible. Whiteflies also carry diseases and quickly spread them throughout a garden.

Tomato hornworms are one of the most common and easily recognizable tomato plant pests. Hornworms grow up to 4 inches long, are green in color and have a sharp, brown horn located on their rear end. Their coloring helps them blend into the plant as the hide under its foliage during daylight. Hornworms can strip an entire plant of its foliage and newly budding fruits in one night. Because Floridian's can grow tomatoes year round, hornworms have a continuous food supply and populations do not decrease.

Leafminers are the larvae of a number of different moths, beetles and flies. The year-round Florida growing season provides continual shelter, breeding grounds and food for these garden pests. After the adults lay eggs on the leaves, the hatching larvae tunnel into the leaves. The tunnels create white or transparent squiggly lines throughout the leaf tissue. The damage to the plant is mostly cosmetic, but in severe cases the leaf miners can kill the tomato plant.

Loopers are small, greenish-brown caterpillars that arch their backs as they move. Adult loopers burrow into tomatoes. The looper larvae feed on the lower leaves of the plant. They can kill seedlings and stunt the plant's growth. Florida's year-round warm weather and growing season allow looper populations to thrive.

Cutworms, the larval form of moths, are one of the most common vegetable garden pests. They feed on the stem of the plant at soil level. Damaged plants look like they were cut to ground level with a knife. The 1 ? to 2-inch long, gray-brown worms hide in the warm soil around the tomato plants, according to the University of Florida Extension. They either have spots or stripes along their bodies and coil when disturbed.

Mole crickets feed on the foliage, stems and roots of tomato plants during the overnight hours. The University of Florida Extension warns that the mole crickets can pull small plant into tunnels they create below the soil. The tunneling also dislodges plants, causing them to wilt and dry. Mole crickets are brown and have large heads. Because Florida's year round warm weather keeps soil temperatures above freezing, mole cricket populations are not killed off by winter freezes.