I have ants all over my plants as well--especially the cucumbers. They don't seem to be a problem though. At least, I don't have any of the yellowing leaves like you do, so the leaf problem might not be related. I'm a beginner as well though, so someone else might have better advice.

The bottom picture I would say is almost certainly black rot. Use Google image search and compare the pictures you find there. Those little black spots are benign in some varieties, my Chambourcin always has them. Or maybe they are small spots of black rot? I don't know about the leaf curling, many things can do that. I would look carefully for signs of bugs or other disease -- leafhoppers and powdery mildew are two potential causes of leaf curl. What have you been spraying? Those grapes are vinafera types and are not disease-resistant at all. I spray my vinafera every week this time of year. Black rot is one of the worst grape diseases, it will cause all of the fruit to rot. If you don't have a regular spray program you need to do some research and set one up. Or pull those varieties and try some more disease-resistant ones. Scott

Hi! I'm so sorry, Jean001a, I haven't replied sooner but i have been away (got the neighbor to look after the garden :). Thank you for you response. I had used miracle grow organic all purpose plant food NPK: 7-6-7 when i transplanted the plants to their grow bags. (i don't know what it is made up of though). Luckily it seems as though they have recovered. the leaves are mostly green. However, i think that the fertilizer had too much nitrogen as the plants are now 1m tall and are only just starting to set their first trusses of flowers.

That's a thrips. (The word always has an "s" on the end.) Yes, they can damage leaves. Direct hits of insecticidal soap work. This post was edited by jean001a on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 18:23