I went through much of what you are going through and some kind folks helped me here. Spray every week, complete coverage, spray underside of leaves as well. Maybe consider making bT a little stronger. The thuracide I bought from HD even says that the strength (from the company) varies from batch to batch.

Once I got those little buggers under control, now I go outside daily and check for anything new. If you do not have the time for that, I guess keep on spraying every week.

But the plant needs COMPLETE coverage. Bt does not kill on contact, the worms must eat the concoction.

Linchat, I've been spraying every other day and stronger than the bottle said! Now, I've got to say that maybe the whole plant has not been sprayed. I've been concentrating it especially where the tomatoes, flowers, and nearby foliage are, cuz I thought the new tomatoes or the tomatoes to-be were the important targets. I'm pretty sure that included probably close to all the foliage on the plants. Do you spray it inside the flowers? Sometimes it's difficult to get the insides of every flower because of angles.

Just want to say thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna mix up my Thuricide (bt) tomorrow to save my 2 small tomatoes and prevent any loss.
It would break my heart to lose these precious first fruits.

Really important to get the UNDERSIDES of the leaves...get a garden sprayer with a bent neck so this is easier to do!

Ok, it seems that I'm going to have to concentrate on more meticulous application. But isn't the important thing to apply it to the tomatoes and tomatoes to be?

It rained this evening, so tomorrow I will be out there spraying leaf by leaf. I've got to save the couple I have left. No new fruit have been set in over a week- since it got so hot again. Maybe I'll have a chance with the next fruit to be set.

Thank-you all for the good advice. I will definitely follow it!

Anna

Anna
i always had similar problems with summer tomato except for the cherry types. I only start them in Nov and give up entirely by May . WAY to many problems lol gary

It is MOST important to have complete coverage (including underside of leaves). You may have to loose some damaged flowers, you will get more. Your quest is to get this infestation under control, complete coverage will do that for you.

The worms are green right?

Alright, I provided as complete coverage as I could with my hand sprayer. I'm going to have to look for a better way to apply if I'm going to do it frequently. It took too long for my fancy. Don't have that much time.

Linchat, I never carry my reading glasses to the garden, so I can't see the worms. I can see the black areas under the sepals and then the tomatoes darken and get mushy. Yuk. I need to keep some glasses out there.

Anna

I have been patrolling my small fruits with an eagle eye ever since I read this thread and YES I have those pesky tomato worms too. Drat! I have sprayed BT twice but still found a worm and hole in one of the toms.

The good news is that the cooler weather means more blossoms are setting fruit. Yay. Now all I have to do is keep the worms, the blight, the whiteflies and whatever else loves my plants OUT of my yard. God bless real farmers, what a chore.

Fruits on Marianna's Peace, Opalka, Giant Oxheart and Polina. Big Zac is big but not setting fruit. I've had to pull a few different types because of TYLCV but had backups.