as soon as my tomatoes get a tiny bit of red on them, something starts eating on the bottom of them. the top looks real nice, but when i pick them they are half ruined. could someone tell me what is eating on them and what i can do. thank you.

could be moles. we had similar problems.

how can you find out if you have moles. i'm guessing they don't like the tomatoes green.

Moles ?

Can't you see the molehills,if not in your garden then nearby ?

Where are these tomatoes lying? It's hard to imagine that a mole would ever be above ground long enough to eat them, and anyway, moles eat worms and insect larvae. They don't eat vegetable material as part of their normal diet. Or do you mean that the moles are affecting the roots of the plants and that is causing deformed or 'rotten' tomatoes? Mice sometimes get into mole tunnels and eat bulbs and roots in there

the tomatoes aren't laying anywhere. they are hanging on the vine. something is chewing on the bottom of the tomatoes and it does'nt start until the tomato starts showing a tiny bit of red. i would just like to know what is going on with my tomatoes.

It might be rats, or birds. A garden store probably has tomato cages with stakes and chicken wire, you can try to protect them that way. Also, a garlic or horsradish spray might deter your invader.

Rats, mice, birds, squirrles, I even caught a feral cat in my tomatoes yep it was nippling away at a 'mater.

A 22 works if you can sit out there day and night and have good aim.

Baring that, I would suggest a physical barrier, or pick before they ripen and let them ripen on a shelf.

Its most likley too late to cage the tomatoes, I imagine we are talking about mature plants. Put it on your list of things to do next year.

You might get some success with a net this year.

And no, poisons don't work - nor CD's (Cds work to scare away the elephants - haven't seen a single elephant in my garden since I took to hanging CD's)