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Old 03-06-2007, 11:16 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Pat Kiewicz Pat Kiewicz is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 237
Default tomato leaf problem

said:

Can someone help, please? I'm in Oregon, and all of a sudden, all of
my tomato plants and my bean plants have the same problem - the leaves
look like something is eating them - they have lacey kind of holes in
them, more on the bottom of the plant than the top. Advice would be
greatly appreciated.


Best thing would be to first figure out what is responsible.

If you haven't noticed any caterpillars or obvious insects, I would suggest
these inconspicuous suspects that can result in tattered looking leaves:

flea beetles: extremely tiny dark beetles which hop off the plant when
disturbed; usually only a short-term problem with young plants

images of typical damage
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/S/I-CO-SBLA-CD.005.html
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/in...592F04-Web.jpg

earwigs: active at night; take a flashlight out in full dark to catch them
feeding; can be killed at that time with soap spray, or set traps

image of earwig damage
http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/nurspest...seupdamage.htm

slugs: active at night and sometimes during wet/rainy evenings; tiny
juvenile slugs might not leave obvious slime trails

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)