Do Slugs Eat Tomato Plants? How to Protect Your Tomatoes From These Garden Pests

Slugs and snails can be a real nuisance in vegetable gardens, especially when it comes to tomatoes. As a tomato lover, nothing is more heartbreaking than walking out to your garden and finding leaves riddled with holes or half-eaten fruit with telltale slime trails across them. So do slugs eat tomato plants? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Slugs and snails are voracious eaters that can decimate young tomato seedlings overnight, leaving behind only stubs. They also damage mature plants by chewing irregular holes in leaves, stems, and fruit. While tomatoes aren’t their favorite snack, these pests aren’t picky and will munch on just about any fleshy vegetation.

If you want to successfully grow tomatoes, you’ll need to deter slugs and snails from invading your garden in the first place. Then, deal with any that sneak through promptly before populations explode Here are some of the best ways to keep these slimy critters from destroying your precious tomato crop.

Do Slugs Prefer Certain Tomato Varieties Over Others?

Slugs and snails don’t discriminate when it comes to tomato varieties. However, tomatoes with thinner skins may suffer more surface damage compared to those with tougher exterior protection. Cherry tomatoes often escape with less scarring since they have a smaller surface area for slugs to eat Larger slicing tomatoes like beefsteaks tend to show slug bites more

While no tomato variety is immune to slugs, some are less appealing than others:

• Small fruited types like grapes and cherries
• Plum tomatoes with firmer flesh and skin
• Paste tomatoes with tough exteriors
• Potato leaf varieties with hairy leaves

On the other hand, slugs seem attracted to certain tomatoes:

• Beefsteaks and other large, thin-skinned varieties
• heirlooms with tender flesh
• Seedlings and young plants of any kind

The most susceptible tomatoes are those with the thinnest skins and most tender leaves. This includes young seedlings that lack woody stems and protective foliage. Even tomato varieties with medium toughness become targets once slug populations explode.

What Attracts Slugs to Tomato Plants?

Slugs and snails thrive in damp, shady areas with an abundance of places to hide. This makes vegetable gardens, with their regular irrigation and mulched beds, appealing habitats. Tomatoes themselves also contain traits that seem to attract these pests:

• Thin, smooth leaves and stems: Tender new growth is easier for slugs to rasp holes in. Pubescent leaves with hairy surfaces are less appealing.

• Fleshy fruits: Slugs use their raspy tongues to scrape and bite fruits, leaving behind holes and scarred areas. Tomatoes provide soft, moist mouthfuls.

• Ground proximity: Low-growing tomatoes within slug range are most vulnerable. Trellised or caged plants escape some damage.

• Constant moisture: Drip irrigation and frequent watering keeps vegetation moist. Slugs thrive in damp conditions.

• Nutrients: Fertilized plants produce more succulent growth. Tomatoes need rich soil to bear heavily.

• Mulch: Organic mulches like wood chips provide shelter for slugs during the day. grass clippings also attract them.

• Weeds: Unkempt areas surrounding the garden offer refuge for slugs and snails. They provide food and moisture as well.

While you can’t change a tomato’s physical characteristics, you can alter these other factors to make your garden less hospitable for slugs.

What Damage Do Slugs Do to Tomato Plants?

Slugs and snails feed using a tongue-like organ called a radula, which has thousands of tiny teeth on it. They use this rasp to scrape holes in leaves, stems, and fruits. The holes tend to be irregular in shape with smooth edges. Sometimes the pests eat entire seedlings, leaving just a stub behind.

Typical slug damage on tomatoes includes:

• Holes chewed in leaves of all sizes.
• Stems girdled or chewed through, causing wilting.
• Fruits with scooped out areas, holes, and scars.
• Missing seedlings or those sheared off at soil level.
• Silvery slime trails crossing leaves and fruits.

The most devastating damage occurs in the spring when seedlings and transplants are small. Entire crops can be destroyed overnight. But even mature plants suffer lower yields due to leaf and fruit injuries. Secondary decay organisms take advantage and cause fruits to rot.

When Are Tomato Plants Most Vulnerable to Slugs?

Slugs and snails feed at night and on cloudy, rainy days. During hot, dry weather, they hide in moist refuges. Tomato plants are most at risk under these conditions:

• Spring seedlings: Young tender growth is defenseless against slugs. Moist conditions favor them.

• Early summer: Expanding foliage offers wide targets for rasping. Mulches are moist.

• Ripening fruit: Slugs go for ripe tomatoes on vines and fallen ones on the ground.

• Cool, wet weather: Slugs come out when soil is damp and nights are cooler. Tomatoes grow slower.

• Mulched beds: Organic mulches give slugs daytime shelter. They feed at plant bases.

• Damp ground: Slime trails on wet soil in the morning indicate night feeding.

Be extra vigilant about patrolling for slugs during these high risk times to prevent severe losses. Focus on keeping their harborage sites dry too.

How to Keep Slugs From Eating Tomato Plants

An ounce of slug prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to saving your tomato crop. It’s best to deter slugs proactively rather than try to eliminate them once populations are high. Here are some effective organic methods:

Remove Shelter & Moisture

The key is to make your garden less hospitable for slugs. Eliminate damp, shady areas where they hide:

• Prune back overhanging vegetation near garden beds.

• Pull weeds around beds to get rid of alternate food sources and hiding spots.

• Allow soil surface to dry out between waterings. Avoid excessive moisture.

• Use drip irrigation and soaker hoses rather than sprinklers.

• Replace thick mulches with gravel or landscape fabric to reduce moisture and shelter.

Use Physical Barriers

Prevent slug access to plants with physical obstructions:

• Surround seedlings with sharp grit like crushed eggshells or diatomaceous earth.

• Ring plants with copper tape, which emits a mild charge when slimes touch it.

• Make collars from cardboard, aluminum foil, or stainless steel that slugs avoid crossing.

• Use floating row covers over seedlings to create temporary barriers.

Trap Slugs

Trapping is an easy way to catch slugs at night:

• Set out upside-down flower pots, boards, and grapefruit halves for shelters. Collect slugs underneath in the mornings.

• Sink shallow dishes of beer into the soil to attract and drown slugs.

• Make DIY slug traps from plastic bottles. Lure slugs in with beer but prevent escape.

Apply Natural Predators

Encourage slug predators to frequent your garden:

• Attract birds, toads, and garter snakes that feed on slugs by providing shelter and water sources.

• Introduce parasitic nematodes to soil that invade slug bodies and kill them.

• Purchase predator beetles that capture and eat slugs. Release them near plants.

• Handpick slugs at night and drop them into buckets of soapy water to kill them.

Use Deterrent Sprays

Repel slugs from plants with natural repellent sprays:

• Make garlic-mint tea and spray plants. The strong scent drives slugs away.

• Mix eggshells and water and spray for abrasive texture slugs avoid.

• Coat seedlings with food-grade diatomaceous earth. The sharp dust deters slugs.

• Spray waste coffee grounds around plants. Caffeine paralyzes slugs if ingested.

With vigilance and these organic control methods, you can still grow tomatoes successfully even if slugs inhabit your garden. While it may take persistence, you can deter slugs and prevent severe damage without resorting to toxic chemical pesticides. Pay close attention during the most vulnerable times and be prepared to take action at the first signs of slimy invaders. Your patience will pay off in the end with a bountiful tomato harvest. Just don’t let the slugs get your garden down!