FOR ALL YOU GARDEN EXPERTS- PLEASE READ!
The rest of you can ignore this post - sorry for its cumbersome nature.
We've just started our first veggie garden, but are having trouble controlling bugs/disease. We have peas, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon (You may be wondering why we started this late - it's because San Antonio has 2 growing seasons).
Anyway, I've been using a pyrethrin-based insectide with a gallon sprayer weekly for a few weeks. I just sprayed last night. Today I go out there and see ants and flies all over, but no other pests visible. There are also many new trail-like markings, which tells me the insecticide isn't doing what I want it to do.
There seem to be 4 patterns:
First, there are yellow/white trails on the top surface of many leaves, as in the images below:
Second, there are holes in many leaves, as in the picture below:
Third, there are brown wilty areas, especially at the leaf edges, as seen below (this phenomenon seems to worsen after spraying insecticide - is it hurting the plants):
And last, there are a couple plants that were completely transected at the base (no pictures, but easy to imagine - like a chopped down tree).
Any ideas? Thanks!
