Growing your own delicious tomatoes is a rewarding endeavor for many home owners who decided to add some edible plants and veggies to their landscapes. But just as you and your family enjoy the rich, sweet and fresh taste of ripe garden tomatoes, so do pests. You can’t blame the creepy crawlers, as tomatoes are indeed scrumptious, but you should keep them at bay. Tomatoes have plenty of enemies, but one of them takes the cake: the flea beetle. This voracious insect can take down an entire crop if you don’t pay attention, so today our pest control Murphy, TX experts decided to offer you a crash course on fending off this particular enemy.

Flea Beetle Identification

Just as its name suggests, the flea beetle is a pest looking a lot like the common flea. It is a jumping insect so mind everything that hops around your tomatoes. Adult flea beetles are small in size. They come in black or dark brown colors with a shiny surface. Flea beetle larvae look like very small worms in a creamy white hue.

The Dangers Posed by the Flea Beetle

Flea beetles are considered devastating insects with an appetite for tomatoes but with an overall hunger which doesn’t discriminate. After they finish off your tomatoes, they can casually move forward and devour other veggies like cabbage, lettuce, eggplants, corn, peppers, and potatoes and so on.

The larvae of these pests are just as dangerous as the adults: the former feed on the plants’ roots, while the latter feed on foliage and the fruit. They are known as harbingers of death as they destroy the tomatoes’ ability to protect themselves, feed themselves and thrive. With damaged roots, your tomatoes become vulnerable to other pests and diseases and less resilient to your local climacteric conditions.

The Signs of a Flea Beetle Infestation

Our pest control Murphy, TX specialists say you should frequently and carefully inspect the tomatoes’ foliage. The adults leave many small holes in the leaves – the foliage will look like having been spread with minced pepper or shot by microscopic bullets.

Organic Prevention

  • Frequently plow and remove weeds and debris during the tomatoes’ growing season. Flea beetles thrive silently over winter so make sure you have a neat and clean territory at all times.
  • Install sticky traps all around tomatoes and in between rows to capture the adults.
  • Use row covers to protect young developing tomatoes, as they are more vulnerable to flea beetle attacks than adult tomato crops.
  • Ask your lawn care Murphy, TX specialists for advice regarding diatomaceous earth. It is an organic powder which protects the tomatoes’ foliage from flea beetle attacks.
  • Have your pest control Murphy, TX specialists offer advice about the introduction of beneficial nematodes into the soil so they can feed on flea beetles’ pupae and larvae.

Never use broad spectrum pesticides or systemic pesticides on edible crops. If you face a serious flea beetle infestation, ask for help from your local pest control Murphy, TX specialists!