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Tomatoes are generally one of the easiest vegetables to grow, but they tend to attract a variety of pests eager to feast on your plants. From aphids that drain sap to worms that attack the roots, these pests can quickly derail your plans for a bountiful harvest of ripe tomatoes.

Fortunately, nature often lends a hand in keeping garden pests in check. Planting companion plants that repel pests while attracting helpful insects can be an effective way to reduce pest problems. However, sometimes additional measures are needed to protect your crop. When doing so, it’s essential to ensure that beneficial insects aren’t harmed in the process.

Now, let’s explore some of the most common pests that target tomato plants and how you can prevent and manage them.

1. Hornworms

hornworm
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Hornworms are large green caterpillars that feast on the foliage of tomato plants. They can be identified by the prominent ‘horn’ at the rear end of the body.

The best way to control a hornworm infestation is to pick them off the plant or spray them with insecticidal soap. To prevent hornworms, plant nectar-rich flowers like dill, fennel, and yarrow to attract beneficial insects that feed on hornworm eggs and larvae.

How to Get Rid of Tomato Hornworms in Your Garden

2. Cutworms

Close up of common cutworm on leaves.
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Cutworms are small green-grey caterpillars that eat through the stems of young tomato plants. They only feed at night, so it can be difficult to spot until the damage has been done, by which time it may be too late to save your carefully nurtured tomato plants.

The best way to prevent cutworm damage is to place a small collar around the base of each plant, sinking it at least an inch into the ground. Plastic yogurt pots with the bottom removed are ideal for this purpose.

3. Spider Mites

Super macro photo closeup of group of Red Spider Mite infestation on vegetable. Insect concept.
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Red spider mites feed on the sap of tomato plants, causing the leaves to become yellow and mottled. They thrive in hot, dry conditions and can reproduce quickly – once a spider mite infestation is spotted, it may be too late to save your plant.

Unfortunately, spider mites can be difficult to deter, so vigilance is essential to spot signs of these tiny insects as soon as they appear.

Sprinkling the soil with hot pepper flakes and garlic powder can help stop them from moving from plant to plant, and insecticidal soap is an effective treatment in the early stages of infestation. Badly damaged plants should be removed promptly and burned.

4. Aphids

Spring season, cherry tree, close-ups of insects aphid pests
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Aphids are small pear-shaped insects that can be yellow, pink, green, or black in color. They form colonies on the stems and leaves of tomato plants, sucking the sap and weakening the plant.

Tomato plants can generally recover from minor damage caused by aphids, and the best control method is to attract beneficial insects that feed on aphids.

Marigolds, sweet alyssum, sunflowers, and feverfew will draw in ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies, all of which help to keep aphid populations under control.

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5. Colorado Potato Beetles

Colorado beetles and larvae
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Although it may be called a potato beetle, the Colorado beetle also eats tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Both adult Colorado potato beetles and their larvae feed on the leaves of tomato plants, weakening the plant and causing low yields.

Colorado potato beetles hide in plant debris on the soil surface, so regular tilling can help keep them under control. In the event of an infestation, adult beetles can be picked off by hand and regular application of Bacillus thuringiensis will reduce larvae numbers.

6. Flea Beetles

The garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) infested with Cabbage flea beetle (Phyllotreta cruciferae) or crucifer flea beetle.
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Flea beetles are small, shiny beetles that can leap into the air like fleas. They feed on tender young leaves, creating holes and ragged edges that can weaken the plant.

Dusting the leaves of tomato plants with talcum powder can help to repel flea beetles. Row covers placed over young tomato plants will protect them from flea beetles while they become established.

7. Psyllids

Citrus psyliid adults at the backside of the citrus leaf plant. These psyllids responsible for spreading citrus greening disease which is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide.
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Psyllids, also known as jumping plant lice, cause the leaves of tomato plants to turn yellow and curl. Adult psyllids can be hard to detect, but look out for the tiny yellow eggs they lay on the underside of leaves.

The best control method for psyllids is neem oil sprayed weekly onto the plant foliage. Planting nectar-rich flowers can attract natural predators that feed on psyllids, such as ladybugs, hoverflies, and lacewings.

8. Whiteflies

Groups of tiny trialeurodes vaporariorum of leaf.
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Whiteflies are tiny flying insects that suck the sap from the leaves of tomatoes, weakening the plant and causing poor crop yields. They can also increase the risk of fungal infections such as powdery mildew.

The easiest way to get rid of whiteflies is to spray the underside of the leaves with an organic dish soap and water mix. Dragonflies, spiders, and parasitoid wasps all like to feed on whiteflies and will quickly get an infestation under control.

9. Stalk Borers

Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, John H. Allison Forest, Blue Flag Iris flower in the rain.
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Stalk borers are small slender caterpillars that, as the name suggests, tunnel into the stems of tomato plants. Unfortunately, they are difficult to spot until it is too late and the plant is damaged beyond hope.

To deter stalk borers, keep the soil clear around your tomato plants and mow grassy areas regularly. Ladybugs and lacewings feed on the eggs and larvae of stalk borers, helping to keep numbers low and reduce the risk of damage.

10. Thrips



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A closeup shot of a Thrips on a green leaf.
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Thrips are very small winged insects that thrive in hot, dry conditions. They are often a problem in tomatoes grown in glasshouses and grow tunnels, causing distorted growth and blossom drop.

Blue sticky traps are effective at controlling thrip populations in enclosed spaces such as glasshouses. Predatory mites can also be purchased as a natural biological control of thrips.

11. Leaf Miners

Nightshade miner on a tomato leaf in a greenhouse. High quality photo.
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The larvae of leaf miners tunnel through the cells of tomato plant leaves, causing characteristic lines along the surface and underside. If extensive, the damage can affect photosynthesis action and reduce crop yields.

To control leaf miners, hang yellow sticky traps near tomato plants to trap the adult flies. Damaged leaves should be removed and destroyed before the larvae can pupate.

12. Wireworms

Wireworm against the background of the soil. Larva of the Click beetle. Agricultural pest. Selective focus.
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Wireworms, the larvae of click beetles, dwell underground, where they attack the roots of tomato plants. Damaged plants will quickly wilt and die, often before you even realize the damage has been done.

Birds love to feed on wireworms, so attract them to your garden by providing nesting spots and food sources. To capture live wireworms in the soil, bury a cut potato for a couple of days – wireworms will burrow into the potato, which can then be removed and discarded.

13. Armyworms

Fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda on corn leaf. Corn leaves
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Armyworm caterpillars eat both the fruits and leaves of tomato plants. They mainly feed at night and can be identified by the yellow stripe down the side of the body. The eggs, laid on the underside of leaves, are covered in a white fluffy substance.

In the event of an armyworm infestation, handpicking at night is the fastest way to get them under control. Biodiversity in the vegetable plot will attract many predators that enjoy feeding on armyworms.

14. Tomato fruit worms

Green Noctua Caterpillar Eating a Green Tomato.
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The tomato fruit worm, or corn earworm, is a moth caterpillar that damages the flowers and fruits of tomato plants. It burrows inside tomatoes and causes the fruit to become deformed and inedible.

Damsel bugs, lacewings, and parasitoid wasps feed on this troublesome pest’s larvae, so plant different annual flowers to attract beneficial insects. Inspect plants regularly and remove and destroy leaves with eggs or newly hatched larvae.

15. Stink bugs

Brown Marmorated shield bug on tomato in the vegetable garden. Halyomorpha halys insect on damaged cultivation.
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Stink bugs are shield-shaped insects that damage both green and ripe tomatoes. They cause poor growth and fruit deformities and can also increase the risk of yeast infection in tomato crops.

Immature stink bugs gather under tomato leaves and can be picked off by hand. Insecticidal soap or neem spray kills stink bug nymphs, and several species of birds eat adult stink bugs.

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growing tomatoes
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tomato plants in garden
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