I don't think so.. It is just some kind of environmental damage that has caused the thorn, which seems to be healed.

Look for loopers - little green caterpillars that eat many different types of leaves. they blend in and are hard to see.

Given the shape of the leaf over-all it looks like just a deformed leaf to me. Often happens as the early leaves are forming.

Leaves get holes in them for all sorts of reasons and most aren't pest issues.

Dave

I don't know what it may be. But what lgtteacher said about loopers -- if you see a bunch of white butterflies flying around, those are looper adults. It's their young that are hard to spot and do all the damage. BT is an effective, organic remedy.

Kevin

We do have quite a few of those white butterflies. I've always called them cabbage moth butterflies.

I do feel we've inspected the plants very closely without seeing anything. But I can certainly keep my eye out for a little caterpillars.

What is BT that you recommend?

What is BT that you recommend?

Just type BT into the search bar here for all sorts of info about what it is and how it is used. Or see article below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: What is BT

shuttering: What Dave said.

Also, I'm no pest expert, but with the looper and moth, I consider them to be pretty much the same... their children do damage!

I think(emphasize think) the reason why they're called cabbage moths and loopers is because they're particularly attracted to brassicas(cabbage family). But they'll attack other veggies also-- peppers, maters, etc.

I know I'm not supposed to do this because you're supposed to identify pest FIRST, and then TREAT. But I use BT almost year round(almost as a presventative). But, in my climate and my year round gardening, there's almost always cabbage loopers flying around. Between my peppers and tomatoes in the warm months and my Brassicas in the cooler months, I use quite a bit of the stuff. Not surprisingly, I've seen a helluva lot less of the moths flying around this year.

I wouldn't do this with ANY pesticide -- just BT. the reason being that it's a very "target" specific pesticide(caterpillars only). Killing the beneficial insects isn't a concern with the stuff.

Kevin