Hey everyone,

So, in brief: this is my first year gardening. Everything was going well in the spring, and then I had some issues with cabbage moths on all my brassicas. I got some tulle and put it over the things that moths were laying eggs on, and it's fixed my cabbage worm problem.

However, I seem to have a flea beetle problem as well. I can understand how flea beetles might have already been on some of the plants that I covered up and were thereby trapped underneath the netting and eating the plants. But, I started a little sun box full of new seeds and put the tulle over it from day one, and everything in it is still getting eaten up by flea beetles. Did they somehow get through the tulle? Or were they likely already in the soil there, too? If that's the case, what's the best approach both now and in the future in terms of using the tulle to keep them out? Do I need to spray something inside the sun box & on my other plants & soil (i.e. in my raised beds) to take care of whatever flea beetles might already be there before I cover up with tulle? Am I maybe covering them the wrong way? I've been stretching the tulle fairly tight across the top; is it better to leave it loose and ruffled? By the way, as far as any kind of spraying goes, I'm not looking to use any sort of chemical insecticide--maybe a homemade soap spray or something along those lines if need be, but that's as chemical as I'd want to go. I'm really looking for a sustainable way to keep the beetles off in the future, i.e. without using homemade sprays over & over. Thanks all.