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Growing your own tomatoes can very well be one of the most rewarding experiences. To be able to pick those red, juicy tomatoes after a whole three months of hard work provides the gardener with a great sense of accomplishment and pride. Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems that could ruin that picture-perfect moment for you, and the worst of those problems is, without a doubt, tomato aphids. There are many types of tomato aphids, but the one that attacks tomatoes is called Macrosiphum euphorbia.
Tomato aphids can wreak havoc among your carefully looked after plants. There are two kinds of damage they might inflict: direct and indirect.
Direct damage is caused when the tomato aphids and their larvae take nutrients directly from the plant to feed on. By doing this, they deprive the plant of the nutrients it needs and the plant weakens, it stops growing, and, if the attack is severe enough, the tomato plant can dry up completely. Any of these situations is obviously detrimental to production, since the plant is too weak to continue forming the fruit. As a consequence, the tomatoes on the plant shrivel up and fall off.
The other type of damage tomato aphids can inflict on your plants is indirect damage. This is caused when the aphids, after having fed on you plants, eliminate a sticky, sweet substance they don’t need directly onto the leaves and stalks. When this happens, the eliminated substance sticks to the leaves and stalks, preventing the plant from doing photosynthesis. As a result, the plant’s production is decreased. It is also very common to see mold mildew and fungus growing on this substance. Another problem is that tomato aphids can inoculate viruses and other diseases from other plants in the garden into your tomato plants, with severe consequences to your plants.
In order to avoid problems in your tomato plants associated with tomato aphids, you need to take preventive measures. Some of these include treating your tomato plants as soon as you detect trouble, before the situation gets out of hand. There are many treatments available for your tomato plants. You could chose a chemical pesticide if the situation is out of control, but it is not advisable since you are later going to eat those tomatoes, and there can be vestiges of the pesticide in the fruit. A better option is to introduce in your plants a species of insect that feeds on tomato aphids. There are many of them and they do not cause any damage to your plants. They help you by eating up all the aphids in your plants. Ladybugs, for example, can help! Another option is to set traps for the insects, but this only works at the early stages when there are few tomato aphids in your plants.
In conclusion, if you are trying to grow your own tomatoes, the best advice would be to check the plants often for signs of tomato aphids. If you detect any, act swiftly by making use of any of the organic alternatives presented above. All your efforts will be rewarded when harvest time arrives!
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Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about pest and disease and gardening articles at GreenThumbArticles.com!
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