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| Hi guys, I purchased all of my celebrity plants at the same nursery and some of them have lots of small, brown holes on the lower leaves, however the rest of the plant is very healthy with tons of new growth. What is causing these holes, and how do I solve the problem? Here are some pictures: |
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| Looks like flea beetle damage to me, a common spring pest that dies off as the weather warms. They tend to overwinter in mulch and leaf debris so I would suggest pulling your mulch back from the plants for a week or so. Generally they pose no threat to the plants except for very young seedlings but I would continue to monitor them. If it is flea beetles you should be able to see small black beetles that hop and jump like crazy. Pesticide control for flea beetles is limited - yellow sticky traps work but stronger pesticides have limited success as it is difficult to spray it directly on them as needed. Dave |
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- Posted by carolyn137 z4/5 NY (My Page) on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 20:59
| If only someof theplants have those small brown holes as you mentioned, and not all of them, which I might suspect if it were flea beetles, let me suggest another explanation. When plants are watered and the droplets don't dry quickly, the sun can burn holesin the foliage. Check out the flea Beetle possibiity first and treat as Dave suggested if you want to, but also consider what I just suggested as another possibiity since not all of the plants were affected. Carolyn |
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| Thanks Dave and Carolyn for your responses! Dave: We have two big pine trees in our back yard, so I raked a bag up and left the (black) bag in the sun for a week to kill unwanted seeds. Could the flea beetles have come from this new mulch? Carolyn: Your point seems very possible as well, because here in Texas we are already having some pretty intense sunlight with temperatures in the 80s. Another thing- it's not all of the tomato plants, just the celebrity ones. Thanks again! |
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| I have no experience with flea beetle doing damage to tomato plants. Their favorite is eggplants and peppers. The damage in the form of fine perforation in early stage of small seedling can be harmful. Once the plants are grown I would just ignore them. Another thing is that you cannot spray them: They have wings , they will fly away and come back. The most effect prevention I have found is to cover the affected plants with nylon tulle for a while |
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