Q: Here are some sad leaves on my tomato. I have TERRIBLE luck with tomatoes here in Savannah! They get every little thing. I try not to use insecticides, but…dang.

I await your wisdom, Oh Wise One!

A: Leaf miners on your leaves are!

I see them on every leaf in each picture. Miners are the larvae of a tiny fly. She lays her eggs on plant leaves, the eggs hatch and the “worms” tunnel between the two skins of the leaf. Once they chew through enough leaf veins, the plant aborts the leaf.

Cut off all affected leaves and fertilize the tomato to stimulate new growth.

Apply regular sprays of spinosad (Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew) (it’s organic) to control the flies for the first six weeks after planting next year.