Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi, I have had a wonderful harvest of my Tomato's for the past 6 month in my AP system. As it started to slow down (the weather I am assuming) some of the tomato's have brown spots which develop into holes. Does anyone know what this is and how to prevent it?

Your advise is much appreciated.

Pic not all that clear (you should use JPG, not GIF for images with a lot of colours), but looks like grubs. Have you conducted an internal cavity search yet?

Dipel is the answer for grubs, feed those ones to the chooks

Do you get Med or Qld Fruit Fly over there? Could be FF- need to check inside to see what's in there.

Thanks Gunagulla. I have cut it open and sure enough something is looking at me. Must have eaten a few of these guys and told my daughter not to be so fussy.
Can you tell what it is?

The Tomato Grub has lots of good protein

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/servi ... aterpillar

At least I think that is what it is- they are usually green when in green tomatoes.

I've got the same problem too - have not worked out if it is fruit fly larvae or from a moth...

FF larvae aren't segmented like the caterpillar in the photo above, and if you put them out on a flat surface, FF larvae will often arch over and jump away. They are generally more tapered without a bulge in the middle, and dont have the typical caterpillar shaped head, and they are smaller.

Wonder if its an eggfruit caterillar, the tommy version looks like it has green grubs

http://era.deedi.qld.gov.au/1904/19/Ins ... 5B1%5D.pdf

Thanks mattyoga! I think you might be on the right track looking at the google pictures. I had problems with butterfly caterpillars in summer, so I have put a curtin of bird netting around the system which worked great. It would still let the Bees through but no butterflies. I opened it again after the season and since I have seen some
moth type creature buzzing around. Maybe I close the curtain again.
Thanks for your help.

I think dipel every 10 days would help also. I was trying the leave it and let the predators move in, though they didn't! (well not yet anyway - I was losing 80-90% of my toms!)

I will try dipel, thanks. I was told to cut the tomato plants right back to keep them in shape again because they went a bit wild. Is it better to clean out the grow bed and start again or cut back. And if cut back, how much?
Sorry for all the questions but I am not a very good nor a knowledgeable gardener.

Hiya, I too have had the same problem with the tomato's. Those rotten grubs decimated last years egg plants and this year are doing the same to the tommies. Fruit fly and the green vegetable bug are around too. If the grubs are inside the fruit then how will dipel work? Having said that I've sprayed the last couple of weeks, dipel and a splash of neem, as a wetting agent, and I may be able to eat the fruit again as the new tomato fruits are looking better but it could be the neem also.

I have been using Neem and for the first time i have no bugs,[saying this tomorrow everything will be eaten] but with a fruit fly trap results are better.

Neem isn't an approved product for organic farming of food crops in australia, but I don't know what its effects might be on fish.
Dipel only works for larvae on the skin of the fruit, once they are inside it wont do anything. It stops them eating, and after a few days they die. You need to aply Dipel every week or 2 in dry conditions, and more often if it has been raining on your plants.