What's eating my chocolate cherry tomato?

Chocolate Cherry Tomato's thin-skinned fruit attracts birds, wasps, and slugs as it ripens, while aphids and whiteflies weaken plants through summer. Tomato hornworm can also strike. Protect ripening clusters with fine netting, and scout regularly for hornworm eggs on leaf undersides from midsummer onward.

Soft green or black colonies on new growth cause shoot curl, sticky honeydew, and reduced fruit set. Pinch out badly infested shoot tips; spray insecticidal soap or neem oil; encourage natural predators like ladybirds.

Large caterpillars rapidly defoliate stems; look for large dark droppings and stripped branch tips. Hand-pick caterpillars; apply Bt spray at first sign; leave parasitised hornworms (white cocoons) in place to protect wasps.

Pecking damage to ripe or near-ripe cherry fruits, often leaving shallow wounds that invite rot and wasps. Drape bird-exclusion netting over plants once fruit starts to colour; reflective tape can deter persistent birds.

Hollowed-out low-growing fruit and ragged holes in ripe tomatoes touching the ground or mulch. Keep mulch away from stems; use iron phosphate pellets; set beer traps; harvest fruit promptly when ripe.