What's eating some of my veggies???

First a little shmoosing, this is really a nice site! I browsed the forum and even tried the search but didn't find what I was looking for so here's my question.

I recently built a raised be garden in my back yard. I planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cauliflower, lettuce, herbs, radishes & onions. I started to notice that some of the beans I planted from seed were sprouting. Unfortunately as soon as they got a few leaves something started eating holes in the leaves. Now I notice these holes in the cauliflower and radish leaves as well. Yet all of the rest of the vegetables are hole free.

I thought it might be snails since they are pretty plentiful here in southern California but when I put out some snail bait, I didn't find a single shell. I also can't see any bugs on the plants. What the heck is eating my stuff?!?!?

Any ideas will be appreciated.
Thanks!

Caterpillars maybe?
They ate holes in my raspberry last year and for weeks and weekd I couldn't find any culprit and then one day I saw the tiniest of caterpillars - well I think they were bug larvae but they looked like caterpillars anyway.

Larry2C - if the holes are round, they could be flea beatles.

You can spray your plants with a garlic hot pepper spray and see if that repels the critters. Most generally don't like garlic and the hot pepper isn't very tasty either. I just grind up several whole garlic pods (the whole thing) and several hot peppers (the hotter the better). Strain the mixture as you pout into your spray bottle or a gallon jug. Then fill with water and spray on plants. It reeks to high heaven, so be prepared!

I think it sounds like flea beetles too. They made a real mess out of my green beans last year. I kept looking, didn't see anything. It was far into the season when I finally saw one or two of them.

http://attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html?id=Indiana

Beautiful beds, by the way. Good luck with the bugs.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I went out today while it was still light and took a few pictures of the most damaged plants. I can't see a bug anywhere but maybe they work nights...

I was thinking of trying the garlic & pepper spray but since my lettuce has them too, I was wondering if the taste will permeate the lettuce. Anybody know?

Definitely not flea beetles, they tend to make numerous tiny holes, shotgun style.

I'd lean more towards slugs, especially since you don't see any other critter. They only come out at night to do their damage. You might want to lay a few small boards down around the base of your plants; it you have slugs they'll hide under the boards when daytime comes and you can easily find them then dispose of them. Once you are sure it is slugs you can apply a barrier of ashes or DE or the like to repel them.

Holler back and let us know how it goes, Larry.

And a big hearty WELCOME TO DG!

Shoe

slugs usually leave that little trail of slime behind. What completely decimates my garden - in no time flat - and they love young tender greens best is - - - grasshoppers. The little beasties. And very hard to get rid of because they hop, not crawl. I nearly cried last year when I checked the garden one morning and found only the stalks of everything I had recently planted. NIbbled right down to the bare stalk.

I solarized the soil in that bed all last summer hoping to kill the eggs. So far this year, although I see a 'hopper every now and then, my veggie starts are ok.

And yes, welcome Larry. Keep us posted.

Larry2C - I agree, definitely not flea beatles. I suspect slugs.

Beer traps will take care of slugs. Just sink a shallow pan (about the depth of a pie plate) or a small 5.5 oz empty cat food can into your soil near the plants. Fill about 3/4 full of beer (the cheap stuff works fine). Check daily and toss out dead slugs. You can put them in your compost pile if you have one. The beer is great for your compost, too.

You can also put crushed up egg shells around the base of your plants to deter slugs. They don't like to walk on the shells. The shells will eventually decompose and add calcium to the soil.

I had this similar problem on my winter lettuce and turnip leaves. Could not find anything. I tried DE and it did nothing. Then one evening someone dropped by unexpectedly and I offered them a sandwich. I went to the garden to get some lettuce and the lettuce leaves were damp and they were covered with tiny green worms in all sizes. I had a smashing/squeezing good time. The next evening I went out again and found a few more. After that they were gone. Trying spraying plants lightly with water, wait for dark, take your flashlight and have a happy hunting time.

Ok, I followed skwinter's suggestion about making a late night visit to my garden. I have found the culprit and I'm thoroughly disgusted. It is an infestation of pincher bugs! They were all over everything! The real bummer to this is that I hated these guys before they were eating my plants.

Any suggestions on the best (most torturest) death for them would be appreciated...

Earwigs! Good idea to look at night.

If you're an organic gardener, you really don't want to kill them, you just want to discourage them from munching on your sprouts. They're actually very beneficial in your garden. To discourage them, try spraying with hot pepper-garlic spray I mentioned above and/or spirnkling some plain old dried garlic (from your spice bottle in the kitchen) on your plants.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/1730/

Stephanie, How are the earwigs beneficial?

They feed on decaying matter and help yard waste break down into good healthy soil. I find them a lot in/near our compost pile. When the waste such as leaves, grass clippings, and raw fruit & veggie scraps breakdown, they feed the soil thus leaving you with nice healthy dirt to plant your garden in.

OIC. Thanks for the explanation. How does one get their attention focused from live plants to the already decaying matter??? ;~)

From what I can find on the web, when the population of earwigs is high they run out of bad stuff to eat and go for the good stuff (my veggies). I think I am going to try some of the earwig traps I read about to thin the population down some (rolled up wet newspapers and vegetable oil in shallow containers).

I'll post up on how/if this works in a few days. Thanks to all!

I HATE earwigs too - They get into my hanging bird feeders and I always have to get them out before I can refil the feeders - it's disgusting!

Mary, put them in the compost pile. Or, since they're soil borne pests you can probably spray your yard and beds with beneficial nematodes and that will take care of the problem.