I'm pretty new at gardening, so this might not be anything to be concerned about, but my cucumbers have holes in the leaves. Nothing else has them (tomatoes, squash, lettuce, beans). I'm in the Chicago area. The cukes are about six inches tall and the holes are about an eighth to a quarter inch across. Jagged, not circular. No bugs or spots in sight. Do I need to do anything?

-- Deborah (ActuaryMom@hotmail.com), June 21, 2000

Answers

You may not be able to see the bug but it's there. Sounds like flea beetles. The organic fix would be to wash off your plants with a mix of garlic and water for the flea beetle. A little baby shampoo mixed with water could also be used on all of your plants. The flea beetle loves nitrogen so if you just fertlized you just fed the bug. Good luck

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), June 21, 2000.

How much garlic to how much water? What will the flea beetle do to the plant/cuke? Will it infest other plants too?

-- Deborah (ActuaryMom@hotmail.com), June 22, 2000.

I am not sure in the % of garlic to water. As for them infesting other plants yes they will but if the plants have a good start they will make it, They are only here for the leaves Grant

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), June 25, 2000.

I am betting on cucumber beetles. They will generally attack squash as well, but some varieties of squash apparently aren't as attractive to them. If you don't need to go completely organic, Sevin will solve the problem, and as the plants grow, you'll have no need to continue, as the plants will shrug off beetle attacks as they get larger. ie. you won't have to spray once the plants begin to flower. If that isn't acceptable, a row cover (such as reemay) will keep the beetles away physically, until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves. By the way, if flea beetles are the culprit, the above still applies. GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 26, 2000.