tiny shiny black jumping bugs are eating holes in my radishes, peppers and squash plants....any ideas? I googled the subject in different ways and came up with flea beetles???? our tomatoes leaves are already curling but don't see any of these bugs on them....this vegetable gardening is giving me ulcers!!!!!!!! Please help....thank you, Deb
Flea beetles sounds right. They ate up my eggplant leaves. Neem oil or better yet, a neem oil / pyretheum blend will chase them away. Don't hesitate. They multiply like rabbits and will turn your leaves into Swiss cheese.
Oh Thank you!!!!! yes, I've neemed them!!!! I will try to get the mixture you suggest...will I need to spray all season?? Thank you, Deb
After I used the blend, they haven't come back.
Thank you for the quick response. I appreciate your experience....Deb
Yes, I agree, they sound like flea beetles to me, too. I had a problem with them earlier this year, but not as much these days - I think perhaps the birds, or something else must be dining on them, 'cause I haven't tried to control them with anything. As long as pests don't multiply faster than the veggies can grow, I leave them for the "good bugs" to take care of.
Now my roses - that's a different story - I do spray with Pylon/Canola Oil to kill aphids and caterpillars when they attack them
I read somewhere that oak leaves are also a good deterrent against flea beetles and bean beetles. So last fall I gathered up two huge piles and am surrounding my eggplants, potatoes, etc. with the leaves to see if they really help. I also have neem available if necessary. So far the eggplant look OK but it's still early in the season yet. A friend uses oak leaf mold in her garden and, after I mentioned their use against flea beetles, remarked that she has had no problems with them for the last two years, and wondered why! So maybe the oak leaves will work - here's hoping!
This morning I'm out again & the beetles are still strong....can I Neem the soil????? Deb
Gardadore,
That is some welcome news. I have 5 acres of woods, dominated by oak trees. I'll have a mulch of old oak leaves on my eggplant before the sun sets today. THANKS!!
If I was still in CA I'd have acess to tons of oak leaves...I don't see them here....
Please post if the oak leaves do indeed work for you. This will be my first year using them so I can't guarantee anything! I found a few beetles on one eggplant this morning that I planted in a straw bale and surrounded with oak leaves. The leaves were not that heavy so I went and got some more to completely cover the top of the bales and the seedlings. Now I hope that works or this theory is dead!!
You might find this interesting, and hopefully helpful: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/1/
It is very interesting but not very hopeful! What a nasty little devil...my kale & chard are just about a little spring coming up from the soil....the leaves are eaten to nubbins....Thank you, Joan. Deb
After reading your post, gardadore, I realized my flea beetle problem fell off after I mulched heavily with finely chopped leaves! Some of the leaves were from our oak tree. I also noticed that the tomatoes I transplanted over the Memorial Day weekend haven't been attached by anything yet - and they are heavily mulched with the same finely chopped leaves.
To chop leaves, I run over them with the lawn mover several times until they are almost as fine as dirt.
Hi Everyone,
I hope you can give some idea of what is eating my veggies. After all these years of growing veggies I have
something eating every green leaf it can find. First the Cilantro, then the parsley and all the lettuce. Whatever ate them ate the plants right down to the ground. All the green leaves on the green bean plants, onions, beets and swiss chard have been eaten off about 4 inchs above the ground. Now whatever it is, has started stripping leaves on the pepper plants. It hasn't touched the tomato or pea plants or any of the herb plants or other green plants growing in the beds with the herbs.
It's not snails or slugs. I've wondered if it could be a grasshopper but haven't seen any of them around this year. The wild critters that come in the back yard are skunks, raccoons, rats, mice and I've seen a ground squarrel as well as evidence of gophers and moles. All of the veggies are grown in raised redwood beds 12" off the ground with 1/2 inch aviary netting on the bottom of each bed to prevent the intrusion of gophers and moles.
I've gone out at night with a flashlight hoping to catch the culprit but so far no luck. Does anyone have any ideas of what kind of
critter I'm dealing with?
Barb
Depsi, I know what you mean about the vegetable gardening giving you ulcers. I'm out there several times a day just watching and waiting to kill something that is attacking my plants. I hate bugs, most of them anyway. Seems like there are so many more bad guys than good guys out there. Hopefully, there's enough for us when it's all over.
Barb, sounds like the ground squirrel is having his way with your plants. I've been battling one over here and he was so bold. They especially love the plants in the seedling stages, when they're young and tender. My plants were stripped and I saw him in action, the peppers and everything else, he came back for them daily. Somehow they survived and are coming back now. He also ate everything else, lettuce, bok choy, cucumber leaves, Asian bean leaves, everything but my tomato plants. Must not like those. Luckily everything is bigger now and he seems to have lost interest or someone killed the little so and so.
Also, I have underground varmints, I'm growing in containers so that is keeping that under control, but one of them murdered my beautiful white rose bush from the roots, ate it and I just pulled on the plant, it was big, and it came right out of the ground!
Hate those things!
You know what I saw yesterday stripping my plants....quail!!!!! they were like little buzzsaws!!! do you have them in your gardens???? Deb
Hi Deb, no quail here, it's sort of like being in the mountain/desert area. At least none that I know of. I remember a quail like bird over in Guam, we called them Frankolins, don't know the tech name for them. One would sit up on the ridge and make this horrible calling sound while the female ran through our melon fields pecking each melon as she went. Made a terrible mess... then we ate the quail...
lol!!!!!!!! good one! Deb
Back to my subject of the oak leaves and flea beetles.... I do find that I have some flea beetles on the eggplants planted in the straw bale despite putting the leaves around. But mine are not chopped fine, if that makes a difference! It is a very light infestation. The slugs are actually a bigger problem in the straw bale and it has been raining a lot lately. I was planning to put some Diatomaceous earth on the bale to deal with the slugs but see from the article I mentioned below that it is good against the flea beetles as well!! I found this interesting article by Marilyn Pokorney on how to control the flea beetles organically very good. Some of you may find her suggestions useful. I certainly did. http://searchwarp.com/swa9013.htm
Deb, I'm going to buy some floating row cover for the next time I plant. Supposed to keep out a lot of problems and you can put it right on top of where your seeds/seedling are. I haven't tried it yet, and I do have a smaller area to cover than someone with a very large garden. Here's a link to read about it:
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/floating-row-cover.html
I don't know if I will order from that link or not, I'm always looking for the best deal on garden supplies.
It doesn't say anything about chewing animals, but surely it can't hurt.
gardadore - thanks for the link - some nice suggestions there. I have some yellow sticky traps which I use in the house to catch flys. I am loathe to try them in the garden in case bees get stuck to them.
Pugzley - If any critters that visit your garden have claws, they will rip the row covers to shreds - it happened to me last year.
I figured it was more for insects. I've got plenty of those here, too. They started before the squirrel arrived. He seems to be gone for the time being.
I used to work one day a week as a volunteer gardener at one of the National Trust properties in Devon, England. We had an intriguing little device for controlling flea beetles. It had small wheels on each side, and a flexible comb between, which lightly brushed the seedlings as you pushed it along the row. This caused the beetles to jump up, where they were trapped on a sticky surface over the comb. It actually worked! I wish I had a photo.
That contraption sounds like just the ticket....I have to spray the Neem again tomorrow...was outside today and see the little dickens are still around....Deb
