I have about 70 potatoe plants that are doing great(wet cool spring) they are already over a foot tall and looking great. Except I have noticed alot of small holes in the leaves(which I checked for potatoe beetles and none) I think they are leaf mites(small black hardshell bugs that jump like crazy). Anyway, as I was looking at them the other day, a few leaves on one plant had round brown spot on it, not mold, it is in the leaf, not on the leaf. mostly in the center of the leaf. I have never had potatoes in the garden before and peppers were in this location the year before. I just want to make sure it is not blite! any suggestions? Second, I have a terrible problem with root maggots. Every year if the spring is wet(which it usually is in WI), I wait till June to plant my vining plant seeds and corn, otherwise the maggots get the seeds, this year I have maggots getting my cabbage and cauliflower plants just under the ground, they have killed about twenty so far and I am not sure what to do about them. We have been organic for five years. I am going to try spraying garlic and pepper spray to rid the leaf mites. Thanks Craig

-- craig swasnon (craig@rswcorp.com), June 14, 2001

Answers

Craig--The little holes in the leaves are caused by flea beetles, not leaf mites. Flea beatles are small, black, hard-shelled and jump like crazy. We control ours with pyola spray, which you can find in the Gardens Alive! catalog. To prevent maggots from infesting the roots of your cole crops, put a small handful of wood ashes in the planting hole when you plant them. Cole family crops love wood ashes, I think I read that it changes the pH of the soil, and that the plants like it and the maggots do not. About the brown leaf spots, it may or may not be blight. I notice a few spots like this on my potatoes almost every year, but I don't think it's blight, because I always get a terrific yield. Hope this helps some. Happy gardening!

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), June 14, 2001.