Leaf Miners

[Mark_Thompson]

These have been bothering me since day one. I’m not even really sure what bug they are the larval stage of, but any of my plants that are protected from the elements get hit pretty hard. I’ve done a lot of reading, some good fact sheets from various universities, but so far the only thing I’ve been doing that helps a ton is spraying Spinosad one week, then Azamax (azadirachtin) the next. I’m not committed to organic at all, but haven’t even seen a synthetic that is semi-affordable that is supposed to work. Anyone else dealt with these little buggers?

Pics are current after I skipped a week of spraying.

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[Nan6b]

They show up on "any of your plants protected from the elements?" Then maybe the wind and rain are washing them away. Would a fan help? Or a daily hosing off? Although the water might lead to more disease, IDK.

[worth1]

Sticky traps.

[MissS]

I have heard that DE applied to both sides of the leaves helps. I wonder if Neem may work for this too?
The good news is that the leaf miners will not be fatal to your plants.

[brownrexx]

I am surprised that spraying anything would help since the larvae are inside of the leaves. I get Leaf miners in my spinach sometimes and they are the larvae of a fly. Sorry but I forget the name.

[Ginger2778]

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As Worth said, yellow Sticky traps. Leaf miner flies and thrips are also strongly attracted to the yellow color. Also whiteflies. Please only buy the Seabright labs brand of yellow sticky traps because they don't trap lizards or birds like the other one's do. I get them on Amazon or eBay for about $13 for a 15 pack. Lasts the whole season. See the photo, the larger flies are the leaf miner type, smaller ones are whiteflies. No more TYLCV since using these.

[MissS]

I am surprised that spraying anything would help since the larvae are inside of the leaves. I get Leaf miners in my spinach sometimes and they are the larvae of a fly. Sorry but I forget the name.

You would spray or apply a dust of DE to prevent the adult female from laying eggs on the leaves. If you prevent the eggs there will be no larvae to enter the leaves.

I get leaf minors on spinach and columbine.

[brownrexx]

I am surprised that spraying anything would help since the larvae are inside of the leaves. I get Leaf miners in my spinach sometimes and they are the larvae of a fly. Sorry but I forget the name.

You would spray or apply a dust of DE to prevent the adult female from laying eggs on the leaves. If you prevent the eggs there will be no larvae to enter the leaves.

I get leaf minors on spinach and columbine.

I have wondered about that as some people try to apply pesticides to kill the squash vine borer moth. Wouldn't the female fly or borer lay her eggs before she dies of exposure to what is on the leaf? Maybe the idea is to kill her and prevent future egg laying.

[Ginger2778]

I am surprised that spraying anything would help since the larvae are inside of the leaves. I get Leaf miners in my spinach sometimes and they are the larvae of a fly. Sorry but I forget the name.

You would spray or apply a dust of DE to prevent the adult female from laying eggs on the leaves. If you prevent the eggs there will be no larvae to enter the leaves.

I get leaf minors on spinach and columbine.

I have wondered about that as some people try to apply pesticides to kill the squash vine borer moth. Wouldn't the female fly or borer lay her eggs before she dies of exposure to what is on the leaf? Maybe the idea is to kill her and prevent future egg laying.

That's why I have the yellow sticky traps, they trap the adult before they can lay eggs. It works really well, and no spraying. Doesnt get more organic than that.☺

[brownrexx]

[mention]Ginger2778[/mention] I love that idea. Especially using the ones that do not trap birds. One time I used a different brand and within one day it had trapped a bird. I felt terrible and never used them again.

[Ginger2778]

@Ginger2778 I love that idea. Especially using the ones that do not trap birds. One time I used a different brand and within one day it had trapped a bird. I felt terrible and never used them again.

Me too! I have never had that happen in all the years I've used the Seabright labs brand. Its a different kind of glue, doesnt trap them, or lizards. Lizards eat bugs, and especially flies. I like lizards.

[pepperhead212]

Fortunately, I don't have trouble with leaf miners, but something that I use for keeping many insects off my plants is Surround, a kaolin clay spray that works great for flea beetles, and many other bugs. Leaf miners were listed as one of the "suppressed bugs", on one of the lists I looked at. It basically makes an unpleasant layer on the leaves for the bugs to crawl around on - if they land, they quickly fly away. I spray it as soon as I start seeing some of the insects - tops and bottoms of the leaves have to be covered. I keep a dedicated sprayer, with just the surround, so that I can get the new leaves coated quickly. One good thing is, it doesn't wash off immediately in rain, like with DE - it takes a very heavy rain to make it seem lighter, but still there (and undersides are even less likely to wash off).

This isn't a great photo, but shows a plant shortly after a spray, showing the white coating:
Sunset Falls, 5-27, with 5 clusters of blossoms, plus a cluster of tomatoes forming. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[arnorrian]

I've heard interplanting with radishes is a good method, as the leaf miner prefer them to tomatoes.

[worth1]

Another good thing to do is to remove all infested leaves and dispose of them.
Preferably in a fire.
This will interrupt the life cycle of these pesky flies.

[Ginger2778]

Another good thing to do is to remove all infested leaves and dispose of them.
Preferably in a fire.
This will interrupt the life cycle of these pesky flies.

It surely would, but it wouldnt come close to helping with the amount we get here in no frost no winter South Florida.

[brownrexx]

Another good thing to do is to remove all infested leaves and dispose of them.
Preferably in a fire.
This will interrupt the life cycle of these pesky flies.

That works for me when I get them on my spinach but like [mention]Ginger2778[/mention] said, they get more of them in the South than I do.

I would definitely use the yellow sticky traps if I lived in the South but I wonder if [mention]pepperhead212[/mention] method might be a good thing to try. I think that it looks ugly but if it kept insects off of my plants I would definitely do it. I don't have much trouble with that type of insects in my garden.

[Ginger2778]

Another good thing to do is to remove all infested leaves and dispose of them.
Preferably in a fire.
This will interrupt the life cycle of these pesky flies.

That works for me when I get them on my spinach but like @Ginger2778 said, they get more of them in the South than I do.

I would definitely use the yellow sticky traps if I lived in the South but I wonder if @pepperhead212 method might be a good thing to try. I think that it looks ugly but if it kept insects off of my plants I would definitely do it. I don't have much trouble with that type of insects in my garden.

I am wondering if photosynthesis is as efficient when the leaves are covered. Like the fruit are probably great, but could they be even more productive/larger if there was more of the green surface? Plants need light, getting enough?

[kath]

Has anyone tried using Seabright's blue traps which are said to attract leaf miners and thrips?

http://www.seabrightlabs.com/trap.htm

[pepperhead212]

@Ginger2778 I don't seem to have any problems with the reduced light to the leaves. In some places, they actually use Surround to cool the plants, by reflecting some of the light - 15-20% with a heavy coating (places where they use shade cloth). Doesn't stop my plants from dropping blossoms in those heat waves!

[Ginger2778]

@Ginger2778 I don't seem to have any problems with the reduced light to the leaves. In some places, they actually use Surround to cool the plants, by reflecting some of the light - 15-20% with a heavy coating (places where they use shade cloth). Doesn't stop my plants from dropping blossoms in those heat waves!

Haha! Thank you, that's what I wanted to know.