What bug is doing this?

[Camillia]

My poor plants. I have two plants I put into the ground, and two in bags, the bags are fine. The two in the ground are being destroyed. So much so something is taking the leafs right off. There are holes and dents. Bottom of the leafs look great. Thought it was ants? Any ideas what is doing this and how to finish this war?

 

[goingrey]

Leafhoppers?

 

[Camillia]

Leafhoppers?

That’s what I was starting to think because I check throughout the day. They are eluding me, so must be super fast leafhoppers

 

[Camillia]

My poor plants. I have two plants I put into the ground, and two in bags, the bags are fine. The two in the ground are being destroyed. So much so something is taking the leafs right off. There are holes and dents. Bottom of the leafs look great. Thought it was ants? Any ideas what is doing this and how to finish this war?

Update! Kept finding these little guys.

 

[Creeperpark]

The ants are there for the honeydew and not the plant leaves. You have larger bugs hitting your plants and the ants are feasting on their poop. Spray something on your plants as a preventive to keep the bugs off. You could use some neem or soapy water made out of a couple of drops of dish soap and spray the plants down on top and bottom of the leaves. .

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

Chili makes a good bug repellent spray.

 

[xet]

When your BRIX levels are high enough your plants will produce their own potent insecticide preventing that type of unabated feasting.

If possible increase those brix levels by producing a compost tea with a healthy dose of molasses (make sure it's a real one not any corn syrup added junk), honey (the real stuff not that purified junk at the store), coconut sugar, cane sugar, you get the idea. I have noticed know-it-alls will rush in to say honey does not work because they think it's just a bacteria killing substance and have not ever tried it their self but it works great.

Also do some reading on BRIX, there are nice little tools you can purchase to test your BRIX to help you know if you can continue pushing your plant's BRIX levels higher.

All things in moderation; don't neglect the water in favor of rushing to many nutrients into the roots.

 

[goingrey]

Ants and aphids go hand in hand, check the undersides of your leaves. @Creeperpark's advice would be valid for aphids too.

 

[FletchF.Fletch]

It looks like Beetle damage. Your target specific Organic solution is to spray Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki aka Bt K. There's a chance it could be leafhoppers, but it looks like Beetles to me. Inspect at different times of day and also check nearby plants. The culprit is close and is returning to feast. Good luck.

 

[@peace]

I have the same damage on my outdoor ones. I can't tell if it is the leaf hoppers or western corn rootworm adults (beetles) like fletch said. I have found a lot of the rootworm beetles this year. Disturb the ground at the base of the plant, I was weeding around my cucumbers yesterday and about half of the plants had two or three that would emerge right from the stem, they are black and yellow. They should transition to the corn field beside my garden in a few weeks, I may try spraying a few with soap as @Creeperpark mentioned.

 

[@peace]

Apparently these rootworm really like my Malawi x Nepal Jam cross. They will be getting soap after these thunderstorms roll through.

 

[crimsonecho]

View attachment 18728884

Apparently these rootworm really like my Malawi x Nepal Jam cross. They will be getting soap after these thunderstorms roll through.

hey peeper they were having a special moment there!

 

[Steviewunder]

I agree on some kind of beetle, usually the windowpane look is associated with flea beetles. Look for small black round bugs that fly off or flick off when you come close. usually they eat right through the affected area and leave a hole do you see that anywhere yet? Neem oil like mentioned will help keep them away, they munch away from the tops of leaves. Usually the damage is short lived and never takes the plant over in my dealing with them

 

[Mattbho]

What he said^^^. You gotta sneak up on the fuckers . Totally right they are usually a few weeks tops and they gone