Little Teeny Bugs on Lettuce

by Angie
(Florida)

I have 5 lettuce plants that are doing wonderfully. This is my first attempt at gardening. I just went out to check them and noticed teeny little black bugs all between the leaves.

Is there something that is not chemical based that I can spray on them? I read something about vinegar mixture somewhere, but can't remember where. Thanks.


ANSWER:

It sounds like your lettuce may have been invaded by flea beetles.

Try planting a row of radish as bait, 4-6 feet away from your lettuce. The flea beetles love radish leaves even more than they love lettuce. Hopefully they will move off your lettuce, and eat the radish leaves instead. Radish seeds sprout and grow leaves in just a few days, so it won't take long for you to see if this will help.

To be sure that you are dealing with flea beetles, take a couple of them with you to show someone that has experience with gardening and who may have also encountered this pest.

You may have to resort to using Rotenone on your lettuce plants. It is supposed to break down in 3 days, so as long as you wait more than three days before eating your lettuce, it should be fine. But follow the directions on the container.