A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 71F. SSE winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 71F. SSE winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.

Organic ripe tomato cluster in a greenhouse

Organic ripe tomato cluster in a greenhouse

There has been unusual activity in the garden this planting season. As a matter of fact, it has this gardener still scratching her head and saying “What the heck?” Perhaps you readers may have alternative solutions that would solve the mystery.

I started tomato seeds in early March in a new home greenhouse. It lacked two things that I’ve had available in the past: a source of heat (greenhouse heater/heat pads) and an additional source of light besides sunlight. So, the seedlings didn’t grow nearly as quickly and were much smaller when I set them out into the garden in early April. However, they were healthy and had reached a foot or so in height by late April. I had been gone for two weeks after planting them into the ground and a friend was watching the garden for me. Pictures were sent to me on May 1. Upon my return to the garden on May 4, I saw three rows of tomato plants, containing 12 plants, located at the rear of the garden had been eaten to within a few inches of the ground; only small bits of their stems indicated where they had been planted. Two tomatoes remained untouched. The other two rows (12 plants total) in the front of the garden were untouched, resembling the photo sent to me.

The garden is surrounded by a 8-foot-tall fence built with sturdy posts and 2-inch x 4-inch galvanized hardware cloth, that is buried into the ground 4 inches with another few inches bent outwards. This fence construction method keeps burrowing critters from entering the garden by digging under the hardware cloth and the height is tall enough to keep deer from jumping over. The garden does have three entry gates. And the garden is surrounded by maritime forest, from which a variety of animals emerge, such as possum, armadillo, deer, rats, mice, moles, voles, rabbits, and raccoons. The garden is also organic, so insect and pest control is difficult.

Could one of the gates have been left open? Absolutely. I’ve done it myself. Although the gates swing shut, they don’t always latch and lock. Perhaps a deer came to visit. Deer tend to be opportunistic feeders, meaning they will try whatever plant is in front of them. So a deer could have fed on two rows of tomatoes, leaving all the other plants untouched including fruit trees, bush beans, carrots, squash, cucumber, pepper, blackberry, black raspberry, strawberry and blueberry plants. Perhaps, after feeling full, the deer simply walked out of the garden through the same gate. However, no gates were open by the time I went into the garden and there certainly wasn’t a deer trapped in the garden when I got there!

Could a smaller animal be the culprit? Possibly. Although the hardware cloth should prevent anything bigger than a baby rabbit from entering, rats, mice and voles can get through. All of these eat a wide range of plants and are opportunistic feeders. But wouldn’t other plants have shown signs of nibbling? Nothing touched the green beans or the baby squash or the luscious black raspberries. And shouldn’t I find some droppings?

How about raccoons? They can easily scale the fence, and they have. They love fresh peaches, nectarines, watermelon, and tomatoes … but the garden is not offering the first three and the tomatoes are simply flowering and just beginning to set fruit. I’ve never seen a raccoon eat a tomato plant.

What about tomato hornworms? Now these insects start out as tiny green caterpillars (larvae). They emerge from eggs deposited by the five-spotted hawk moth, a pretty, gray night moth with yellow-orange markings on its abdomen. The larvae voraciously consume every bit of a tomato plant and grow into thick, 3-inch long monsters, who despite their size, are well-camouflaged on the tomato plants. And once all the plants are gone, they can trick gardeners into believing that they also are gone. But they have simply dropped to the ground, digging 4 to 6 inches down to create a pupation chamber. The pupae will remain underground, completing their life cycles as adult moths, emerging from the ground the next spring. Usually, I see the damage from caterpillars as it begins. Perhaps from that Sunday through Wednesday time frame, I missed all the frenzied eating activity?

So, I figured whatever had happened was just a fluke. So my first solution was to go buy new plants from a local garden center. I planted 12 new plants (gosh, plants are expensive these days!). I spent an hour the next morning planting. I placed tomato cages over each plant. And I made sure the gates were all secured before leaving. I returned the very next day … and all 12 plants were gone, cut off right at the ground, not a bit of green remaining anywhere. No way it was tomato hornworms. If I hadn’t done the planting, I wouldn’t have believed it –only the roots and labels remained in the ground. Again, no damage to the other tomato rows in the other area of the garden nor the two plants originally left behind nor any other garden plant.

Now I’m tempted to set up a camera and set out just one row of tomatoes in the same location to see if I can capture the culprit. It’s a bit intriguing as well as a bit unnerving. I’ve been the grower in this garden for four years and have never had a mysterious garden visitor so stealthy and damaging. Hopefully, the mystery will be solved soon before other plants see a similar fate.