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HELP!!!!

Posting this up for my friend. He showed me these leaves at work today and asked me what was wrong???


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Said this started on his tomatoe plants and now is on ALL peppers and tomatoes and ALL leaves :eek:


Plants are outside,inground...using Miracle grow Nutrients(no foliar feeding).


He is a member here(badboy26) and should be along after work... so please help a brother out!!!
 
overspray from a shot gun?

Whatever it is looks buggy to me but I am just going to follow this and learn.

The leaves are not chewed all the way through... there is tissue where it appears there are complete holes.

If it were bugs... ALL leaves on ALL plants at once??? Jus kickin it to try and figure this out bro... nothing else :)
 
nah seriously I was joking around. Definitely kick this one around so we all can learn. I would think if it is a bug then a swarm cam in, so probably something else. I can't wait to see what the experts say.
 
Looks VERY much like the broad mite damage that occurred to some of my peppers and tomatillos, except they caused larger "holes" on mine that aren't really holes. What they do is actually puncture individual cells in the leaf and suck the guts out, which is why a "true" hole doesn't exist. Insecticidal soap - soak ALL leaves front and back. Three times, using a 3-day cycle: Spray today (Friday), spray again on Monday, then again on Thursday.

Edit: Might need to do more - I got mine early, when there were clearly only a few mites. Looks like your friend has an infestation.
 
One more thing - apparently the mites inject some kind of toxin into the leaves as part of the process. Depending upon the age of the plants and the severity of the attack, they might or might not survive. Many of mine did, some did not.
 
Looks VERY much like the broad mite damage that occurred to some of my peppers and tomatillos, except they caused larger "holes" on mine that aren't really holes. What they do is actually puncture individual cells in the leaf and suck the guts out, which is why a "true" hole doesn't exist. Insecticidal soap - soak ALL leaves front and back. Three times, using a 3-day cycle: Spray today (Friday), spray again on Monday, then again on Thursday.

Edit: Might need to do more - I got mine early, when there were clearly only a few mites. Looks like your friend has an infestation.


G, can I see these mites on the leaves? They are in my possession now...
 
No - unless you have a very strong magnifying lense. They are not visible to the naked eye.

OH - keep them AWAY from your plants!
 
No - unless you have a very strong magnifying lense. They are not visible to the naked eye.

OH - keep them AWAY from your plants!

Leaves are in a sandwich baggie, have only be taken out to take the pictures and will be disposed of IMMEDIATELY :eek:
 
Scroll down the linked web page to see a pic of the flea beatle - it is clearly visible on the leaves.

Edit: Sounds like the flea beatle chews a true hole through the leaves, so likely isn't that, unless someone else has experienced differently.
 
The main sign of broad mites is horrible curling and subsequent death of new growth....

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The toxin that broad mites inject absolutely just screws with the leaves!

Although your friends leaves are clearly messed up, I don't think it is broad mites as there is none of the tell-tale curling damage associated with them. It looks like something is definitely eating them though!
 
Gotta disagree with you a bit, Gas. The damage to the leaves depends very much on the size and age of the leaf, as well as of the plant, at the time of the attack. Newer leaves on newer plants tend to get the curling as well as the "holes", while more mature leaves (particularly on more mature plants) tend to just get the "holes", at least at first. I started my plants from seeds in groups, so when the broad mites hit, you could markedly see the difference based on age and leaf size.
 
Gotta disagree with you a bit, Gas. The damage to the leaves depends very much on the size and age of the leaf, as well as of the plant, at the time of the attack. Newer leaves on newer plants tend to get the curling as well as the "holes", while more mature leaves (particularly on more mature plants) tend to just get the "holes", at least at first. I started my plants from seeds in groups, so when the broad mites hit, you could markedly see the difference based on age and leaf size.
From what I have observed, at least in my case, is that broad mites don't want much at all to do with older growth. They suck the life out of the new growth and then move on to the next plant.

Another thing I have noticed is that the toxin acts extremely fast and I have read that it only takes a very small number of broad mites to cause noticeable toxic side effects (that is to say, their toxin is strong).... I could most certainly be wrong but I don't think there's any way broad mites could have fed that much on a leaf and it not show signs of toxicity damage.
 
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