Lettuce -Black spots consuming leafs
I have had salad bowl lettuce that had been doing great, and now with hotter weather I am getting a lot of plants that have these tiny black granules, and the leafs are dissolving on the whole plant in just a few days. Any suggestions greatly appreciated
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
From what I can see, you have three issues going on here.
The tiny "granules" and tiny holes look like flea beetles to me. There have been a couple of threads recently about them and how to deal with them in vegetable and/or organic insect control forums.
The larger munched leaves appear to be something bigger -- I'm thinking slugs/snails.
Finally, the hot weather is causing the lettuce to start bolting. That means you won't have chance to harvest from these for much longer, so it may or may not be worth your time and effort as well as whatever remedy you decide to use to eradicate the pests.
-- I'm tempted to say salvage and harvest what you can -- eat the best ones fresh, quick wilt the rest in a bit of salted boiling water and butter then freeze for later use.... And plant something else there like bush beans (if small area/short plant and quick) or pole beans or cucumbers (if larger area/tall plant).
The tiny "granules" and tiny holes look like flea beetles to me. There have been a couple of threads recently about them and how to deal with them in vegetable and/or organic insect control forums.
The larger munched leaves appear to be something bigger -- I'm thinking slugs/snails.
Finally, the hot weather is causing the lettuce to start bolting. That means you won't have chance to harvest from these for much longer, so it may or may not be worth your time and effort as well as whatever remedy you decide to use to eradicate the pests.
-- I'm tempted to say salvage and harvest what you can -- eat the best ones fresh, quick wilt the rest in a bit of salted boiling water and butter then freeze for later use.... And plant something else there like bush beans (if small area/short plant and quick) or pole beans or cucumbers (if larger area/tall plant).