Hi and grettings to all. This is my first year with a garden. I planted some tomatoes, a couple of peppers and a couple of mints. The problem is that my tomatoes plants have holes in the bottom leaves. My mother-in-law told me to use Sevin dust but I want to stay organic if I can. Any suggestion would be great. Thanks.
More detail, maybe? How big are the holes? Do they have color around them? Is there anyway you can post a picture of them? Have you seen any bugs around you can describe? Little holes, along with tiny black bugs, the size of pin heads are flea beetles. They chew tiny holes in plants (usually beans, but they will eat anything) and they spread viruses. There are some good soap based sprays you can use, hen you can try natrual Pyrethrin, (Not the artifical, it is toxic to fish and even small mammal) if that doesn't work, Rotenone, which is natural, but a bit poisonous, can be used. DON'T use Sevin. It is as toxic as hell. It's a nerve poison as well.
I've got a bunch of little holes all of the sudden in my beans. Do you have anymore info on these soap sprays? Is it something I can mix up? Thanks!
Turn the leaves over and see if you can see what's eating them. That might help in finding a solution.
Tiny holes in the tomato leaves are usually caused by flea beetles. If that's the problem, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news:They usually just damage to the leaves, but don't kill the plant. Their damage isn't considered economically significant. The bad news: Flea beetles are hard to control. Here are some sources of info I like, see what ya'll think. The University of Georgia has a great tomato info. The following page also has some scary pictures, scary to tomato growers. http://www.uga.edu/vegetable/tomato.html The University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) is another truely great source of info (http://ipm.ucdavis.edu/). Yea, it's info is California centered, but the info, ideas and instructions are good almost anywhere. I especially like their photos. Here's the tomato problems page http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783301411.html These are pictures of flea beetle damage. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/E/I-CO-EHIR-CD.006.html http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/E/I-CO-EHIR-CD.011.html If flea beetles are the problem, here's a source of info for organic control. http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural Areas http://attra.ncat.org/) is the national sustainable agriculture information service operated by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (http://www.ncat.org/) under a grant from the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All three of these are public funded and aren't selling anything. They all have vastly huge amounts of information. I think National Center for Appropriate Technology (http://www.ncat.org/) is one everyone should look at. They have sites for sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy, sustainable communities and a sustainable world. Peace, poor_old_dad
I buy my soap sprays. Safer makes one. The stuff you wash your dishes with and even the "soap" in the bathroom is usually detergent, which is not the same. Also getting the right amount and the PH balanced, so you don't kill the plant is hard. Most good garden stores, and nurseries should carry soap sprays. Natural Pyrethrin is also good. Flea Beetles are awful I have had them kill small bean plants, and stunt growth on others.
