That's a chewing insect from here, not blight.

Dan

anything i can do? insecticidal soap?

I use row cover, but now you are risking trapping the critters (grasshoppers, CPB) under the fabric. Insecticidal soap works only when touching the critter, but depending upon the mix you may get some repellency with an additive. There are folks here who brew numerous teas that purport to repel critters, perhaps one will come along with a recipe for spuds that worked for them.

UC Extension is a good resource and surely they have an appropriate IPM program available.

Dan

I suspect you have caterpillars feasting on the plants. Could be combined with snails and or slugs.

In any event, take a flashlight & go out at night -- about 10 or 11 PM. Look at the leaf edges & underneath. Dispatch what you find.

anything i can do? insecticidal soap?

As the label on insecticidal soap indicates, it has limited utility. That is: te label on insecticidal soap indicates what it will work on.

If you are going to be growing vegetables, it is very important to learn about pests and how to combat/reduce them. This is a part of growing plants and will not go away, ever.

There are pointers above and 'dispatching' is very clear wrt snails/slugs. It is also clear knowing these pests what insecticidal soap will do. Here is another pointer to begin, your basic resource that should have a bookmark.

Dan

You asked "anything i can do? insecticidal soap?"

Yes. As was said, take a flashlight & go out at night -- about 10 or 11 PM. Look at the leaf edges & underneath. Dispatch what you find.

As for insecticidal soap, it only works if you hit the critter with it. So you might as well revert to the above search-and-destroy-directly method.

Dispatch means drop into soapy water or cut in half. Could also feed the chickens if you have any.

Thank your for your responses. I'll do just that. Sorry that my question posted twice; I must have done that accidently. Today is actually the first time I have been free to check back on the post. Hopefully the plants are not too far gone. Thanks again.

A couple follow up questions if you dont mind.

how often am I going to have to do this?, and once I do it, can I use white cover cloth to keep them out?

Also, can I use BT on it?

o You have to start the row cover first thing. As soon as my sprouts come up, it is on, maybe two-three weeks here; it has to come off when flowering so the plants can be pollinated. This presumes CPB/grasshoppers/leafhoppers etc.

o You have to ID your pest before you can apply the control.

Dan

I found out what it is. Thousands of earwigs.

Any ideas? I thought maybe get rid of the straw, let it dry out, and just mound up dirt? (since it seems they are living under the straw.

That is exactly what a very bad infestation of earwigs can do, but I wouldn't swear that that's the only thing munching on your plants.

You are correct in your thinking that changing the environment can go a long way in controlling these insects. Under normal conditions, they don't pose too many problems, but they can do terrible damage when in very high numbers. Get rid of the straw.

Yup. That straw ensures a short commute to dinner with little risk of exposure to predators.

Dan

It could be birds, that is what my collards looked like, big beak holes in each leaf.

I don't see how a slug can travel on such course material, they say to lay a rope around your plants and they can't crawl over it.

they say to lay a rope around your plants and they can't crawl over it.

"They" obviously never had slugs before.

Nonetheless, there are several IPM methods to lessen earwig damage, all found at the links above.

Dan