So My eggplant is about 4 1/2 weeks old and I transplanted it two days ago, and it already has holes in it. I was looking around the leaves and a baby caterpillar landed on my hand. That was yesterday, now, today, I see more holes and looked all over the plant and found no caterpillars, can anyone help??
The hole on the new growth is new (from today) the rest is old.
slugs maybe?
Don't know what kind of critters you have but I find it helpful to go with a flash light and have a look on the underside of your leaves.
My guess is pillbugs. That straw on the bed provides a good hiding place for them. They like hanging around and eating organic matter that is breaking down...and, they're night visitors. Come out after dark with a flashlight, and most likely you'll catch the culprit in action, even if it's not pill bugs....
Sprinkle some Sluggo PLUS (not regular Sluggo) granules on the perimeter of the bed, and around your plants. It'll take out any pill bugs and/or slugs lurking in that organic matter...
P.S. Sprinkle freely, but not too much. A little goes a long way, and it does last through a couple of rain showers...
LMK how it turns out.
Linda
I am not sure if it differs, but those are christmas tree needles, not straw.
Also, today it hasn't gotten any worse except for a few tiny holes probably made by flea beetles.
This message was edited Dec 17, 2013 4:38 PM
OK.
But, pill bugs like to hang around anything organic that's in the process of breaking down. When they run our of organic detritus, they attack wee plant leaves. The christmas tree needles will take a bit longer to break down, but, they can make for some good hiding nooks and crannies for the pill bugs...
OK. I'll wait to see what happens.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
Linda,
How about spraying with diluted soap dish?
Belle
Bellieg,
You're right! I think the dish soap would help with the flea beetles. I use Lemon Ajax for my garden applications, since most of the buggies don't like citrus....
