What Causes Holes in My Tomatoes?

Catfacing

• Catfacing refers to a condition in which the fruit has holes at the blossom end. The fruit is also misshapen and there are scars on the skin. The common cause for this condition is assumed to be unusually cold weather at the time of plant blossoming and excessive use of nitrogen, cites the Colorado State University Extension. You can avoid the problem by making sure that you are not transplanting your tomatoes very early in the season.

Potato Tubeworms

• The larvae of potato tubeworms are about ½ inch long and dull white to light pink in color. The dark-headed pests create holes in tomatoes as they tunnel their way inside the fruit, stems and leaves. Damage to the terminal stems causes plants to die. Avoid infestation of pests by growing tomatoes away from potatoes in the garden.

Cutworms

• Cutworms are common pests of nearly all garden crops, including tomatoes. The brown-colored caterpillars live under the soil or near plant base, damaging stems at the soil line and creating holes in young fruit. Affected fruit stems wilt and die. Cutworms are active during the night. You can control the insects by using a flashlight and manually removing them at night.

Tomato Pinworms

• Tomato pinworms are a hard-to-control tomato pest and their presence is indicated the by small, black holes or tunnels at the stem ends. There is brown frass or waste matter near the feeding site. The caterpillars are very small in size and mottled in color, ranging anywhere between gray and yellow with red or purple shades around the separate body segments.