039 Who's Eating My Tomatoes? Pt. 1.

How many times have you gone out to your backyard tomato patch, reached in to harvest what looks like a big, juicy, ripe, red tomato…only to have your fingertips realize…someone’s been eating my tomatoes. Who’s the culprit? Our favorite college horticulture teacher (retired), Debbie Flower, rounds up the suspects and interrogate them one by one. There’s so many possible offenders, it will take us two episodes to get through them all. Plus, we will offer tips on controlling those unwanted tomato chewers, and tell you about the garden good guys that are helping you out. And some of those good guys…you might not even think of them as being beneficials. But they are.

U.C. Farm Advisor Rachael Long tells us about the mud dauber wasp, which can be very effective at controlling another backyard nemesis: black widow spiders.

And, Phil Pursel of Dave Wilson Nursery offers a quick tip: why organic fertilizers are so good for your plants.

Links: The life cycle of the tomato hornworm. Video of a wasp eating a tomato hornworm. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs on a hornworm. Effective against tomato hornworms: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) How to tell the difference between a yellow jacket and a paper wasp. Impress your friends! Yellow jacket fun facts. Meet the beetles! (The Green Fruit Beetle, that is) Where the blue mud dauber wasp lives in the U.S. Organic fertilizers for fruit trees

More episodes and info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available at the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred: Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog Facebook: "Get Growing with Farmer Fred" Instagram: farmerfredhoffman Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter.