I'm very bad at this because I've been lucky with my plants and not had many pests. I can only give a couple of suggestions : The mention of the web made me think of red spider, but the spots look a little like mealy bug, except that I think that is usually found at leaf joints and where branches start, Have you been painting recently? It also reminds me of the splashes of paint my husband got on my plants from time to time when decorating :) Of course, I suppose you could be unfortunate enough to have red spider, mealy bug and paint splashes at the same time. I wonder does anyone else here have any ideas? There are real experts here, let's hope they can spot your problem.

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

Yes, that's exactly what I was expecting, they are know around here as peat pellets (that's why I asked where you live-& the name on container was a clue too). It was probably too wet, and that's why bugs like it. It could be difficult to keep peat watered 'just right'. If wet, it very easily becomes too saturated & could cause root rot, especially for succulents. Very easily it turns into a peat soup :) If it dries out, it could be as hard as rock. That's why it is not recommended for growing plants. But it is OK for seed starting, or even rooting the leaves as you did above. Don't byrry them, they are growing roots into it. As they grow bigger (the babies), it would be better to pot them up into well draining potting mix. Perlite and/or grit could be mixed with some soil. If you could find cactus & succulent soil, add at least 50% of perlite and mix well. That would be much better to use for your plants. And the stones you have are nice top-dressing, just as you have it. Could you find some fine gravel? It would be good to mix some with perlite if available. (Perlite should be available in any garden center, or some other stores that carry gardening supplies and plants). To check if plant needs watering, you can use wooden skewer. Insert at least half way into the mix. If it comes out with particles sticking to it, no need to water yet. Rina