holes in tomato leaves

[kathood]

I woke up to find several small 1-2 mm holes in my starter tomato plants and the leaves were wilting. Couldn't find any bugs, crawlies or slugs. Came home from work to find leaves WILTED! what happened?

[The Helpful Gardener]

Hard to say Kat. Let's post this in the Tomato Forum and see what the consensus is...

HG

[TZ -OH6]

Sounds like flea beatle damage. They love young tomato plants, and can be a real problem. When they start I immediately (that day or the next) spray the plants with insecticidal soap, or worse. After the plants grow for a couple of weeks they don't seem to be bothered bothered any more.

If you know that you are going to have a problem you can plant radishes nearby as a trap crop. The flea beatles will prefer the radishes to other vegetables.

The wilting is probably caused by high water loss. Greenhouse grown seedlings are not adapted to life outdoors, and their roots can't keep up with the higher water loss. Little pots also can dry out very quickly so make certain that the pots are wet when you put them out in the morning.

[kathood]

I planted the tomatoes in deep7" soil and check the water daily.
I looked online and flea beetles were one of the main culprits. I haven't spotted any critters yet. I will spray tomorrow. Thanks for the tip about the radishes too!

[TZ -OH6]

Flea beatles are hard to spot. They look like fleas and hop off of the plant when you get close, so you might just think that a you saw piece of dirt fall off the leaf when you see one.

[kathood]

thanks for the info. I'll try to sneak up on them

[The Helpful Gardener]

Kind of early for flea beetles...

[url]https://www.team.ars.usda.gov/posters/lifecycle.pdf[/url]

Necrosis on old feeding sites, shotgun fungus; lots of things cause little holes... got pics, Kat?

HG