wonder if the black matting is cooking them on 90 degree days ... have you used this product before???? its not only super heating the soil .... which keeps it hot deep into the night .. it also reduces a recovery period ... and may be why.. lower limbs are more affected ... and the hole is so small.. i wonder if water is getting to the plant efficiently .... i dont watch video of inanimate objects... lol ... it is interesting how you labeled the plants on the black stuff ... ken

The picture just looks like the normal pale underside of the rolled leaf... is the gray patchy? powdery? What does the topside look like? --Alison

Flea beetles just love eggplants. And like peppers too. But have not seen them eat tomato laves. Flea beetle damage is only crucial when the plants are in seedling stage. They cannot cause any significant harm to mature plants. AND spraying cannot kill them because they have wings and fly away . There are other insects/bugs that eat peppers (NOT tomatoes), like slugs and earwigs. So I think you need to positively identify the insect and then go after them.

Yes, the plants bounce back, provided the aphids haven't transmitted a disease. Tomatoes are very good at recovering from physical trauma. I would prune off any seriously damaged foliage. New growth will happen quickly. As for guarding against pests, it depends on your philosophy. Are you someone that doesn't tolerate any plant damage at all? Are you more holistic? Organic? What is the environment the plants are growing in? Do you have an established population of good bugs, i.e., predators that eat pest bugs? Personally, I think that good cultivation practices like not overfertilizing your plants (plants that have had their growth pushed too far by high-nitrogen fertilizers are more attractive to pests), keeping garden plants away from overgrown, weedy areas that are likely to harbor pests and diseases, and nurturing beneficial predators, are important. But other than that, prevention through chemicals and application of products is just more fuss, time, and toxins put into the garden. I have a good balance of beneficials, so I just stay vigilant and inspect plants daily, especially the undersides of leaves, and take care of any problems if and as they arise. If I see a few aphids here and there, I leave them for the beneficials. If I see them starting to really colonize part of a plant, though, I deal with them. If a problem occurs that can't be taken care of manually by picking off pests ((infestation of flying/jumping pests or pests like caterpillars that can wreak a lot of destruction very quickly), there are many options from relatively nuclear options to various organic options, to turn to, depending on your personal philosophy. Disease is something else. If you are in an area that reliably gets fungal or bacterial disease issues, preventative spraying of fungicides on a regular schedule is a key tool in keeping your plants healthy longer and slowing down any diseases they do get. As with everything else, there are more hard-core options and more organic options. Some people choose not to spray until they see signs of disease. I personally think that, in any area with appreciable humidity, tomatoes are so prone to so many fungal and bacterial problems that preventative spraying is a good practice unless you are philosophically against it.