Obviously others have not had a plague of cucumber beetles like I've had or they wouldn't dismiss them so easily. Like thrips, some years are worse then others but in a bad year they will shred every flower in sight. 2 years ago clouds of cucumber beetles (literally clouds) settled onto my fall flower display and within 2 days every mum, Helianthus, Aster and Zinnia was in tatters. My neighbor remarked that it looked like a plague of locusts had passed through. They also afflicted my roses, but with more petals the roses withstood the damage a bit better. In my area they are constantly present during the growing season, but fall is when their numbers can get out of control. I rarely do insecticides and it would have been particularly hazardous to do it when all the blooms were open as not only the cucumber beetles were present but also loads of bees, wasps, moths, butterflys etc. All I can do is pray that it doesn't happen that badly every fall. Cucumber Beetle eating a rose petal. Note how their eating pattern which can lead to the shredding pattern. They also drop down into the layers of petals and munch away out of sight.

Thanks for the reply Mike! I thought that was a possibility too. We had a miserably hot summer down here in TX this year and it lost a few leaves in a similar manner then as well (not sure if that tells you anything). It has been a bit cooler the past couple of weeks. Got down into the lower 60s upper 50s at night. It would be that cool for a couple of nights and then warm up into the 70s. The plant is probably used to highs in the upper 80s and 90s with lows in the 70s to lower 80s. I say that because I am not sure if the plant will start to drop its leaves for the fall based on the temps that are normal for the climate it is in. However I did move the plant inside and it never gets cooler than 70 there. I read some forum posts on winterizing the plants and that made me think that the cooler temps are to blame. Haven't seen the the ants past couple of days. Maybe the bait worked, not sure though. How do I post a picture of the plant? I don't see anywhere to upload a picture to this post.

I have searched the web, and can't find anything quite like what I have. First, I noticed a couple of weeks ago black spots on the lower leaves of a couple of my tomato plants (Cherokee Purple). I thought this was a fungal problem and sprayed with copper fungicide, but it has only gotten worse. A few days later, I noticed drooping blossoms. I thought this might be water-related, as we have had weird weather here in N CA lately, and my watering has been eratic, depending on climate (overcast some days, a little light rain one or two days, very hot some days). So, I stuck my finger in soil near every plant -- I have twelve tomatoes in one bed and another 4 in another bed, plus other veggies, flowers, etc., and tried to adjust accordingly. Some plants seemed damp enough, others dry. A few days ago, I noticed the formerly droopy flowers now are falling off at the stem a centimeter or so behind the flower. There is a bump on the stem on the droopy ones, and others have a brown, narrow,dried-up spot on the stem where the bump was and they fall off when touched. Like something has squeezed the stems. Not just behind the flower, but a centimeter or so below it. There is a little green stem still attached to the flowers. So, I inspected more closely and found tiny black bugs under some of the leaves. A few of the bugs are brownish or reddish, but most are black. There are also some white dots which are likely eggs. The bugs have no wings as far as I can tell, and 6 legs. One body section, like a beetle. I didn't find any on or near the flowers, though, only on leaves and a few on the main stems (not flower stems). I sprayed with insecticidal soap (hope this doesn't kill the bees), but would like to know exactly what I am dealing with, or if I am dealing with more than one problem. Oh, some of the leaves with the worst infestations did have brown spots. My other veggies seem healthy, though I do have some yellow edges on the new leaves of my cucumbers. Didn't find any bugs there, though, and blooms seem healthy. All the tomato plants are infected, though one bed is worse than the other. They are all heirloom tomatoes of different varieties. The plants with the largest infestations also have spiders nearby (I have _lots_ of spiders in my garden), but I don't think they are helping much. I tried to avoid them when I sprayed, but couldn't avoid them entirely. Was insecticidal soap the right thing? Does anyone know what this is? My poor Cherokee Purples are really looking bad -- thin with few leaves, many of those brown or yellow, few blooms.

Very hot weather will cause blossom drop; see the FAQ linked at the end of the post. There is a natural joint in the stem about a centimeter from the blossom: that's where the stem snaps easily when you pick a tomato, and it's where the stem will break by itself when a blossom is not pollinated (as well as some other circumstances). The small black-ish bugs may have been aphids, sucking insects which feast on plant sap. They come in different colors (IIRC, the ones which like tomatoes are black, white, green, and pinkish?). Some have wings, but most don't; you will see different ages/sizes together. A few shouldn't be a problem, but they breed incredibly fast, so you did the right thing to spray with insecticidal soap. Some people just squish them. Try to keep the plants consistently moist -- but don't overwater. *lol* -- no one ever promised life would be easy.... Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2000083030027695.html