HotPepperManFL
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Location: Lutz,FL

What is this on my plants?

I can't get rid of whatever these are.They are on my pepper plants too. I have used Organocide, but they come back.What are they and what else can I try??

[img]https://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk296/olskoolkid07/DSC06263.jpg[/img]

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Francis Barnswallow
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Those are leaf miners. They're near impossible to get rid of. I did "seek and squish" on them (with my fingernail) and I put a cap their numbers. They are a tiny orange caterpillar the size of a BB. Follow the tracks they make and you'll see them at the end of the track.

Or you can just tear off the leaves they are mining. For me, had I done that, I would have defoliated 80% of the plant.

Just keep an eye out for them b/c they can get out of control. You can also try Spinosad to get control over them. Not sure if it works though because I've never tried it.........just recommended to try it.

HotPepperManFL
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Location: Lutz,FL

How detrimental are they to the plant, they don't seem to be hurting the tomatoes. Nor the overall health of the plant.But when I spray with the organocide the leaves that are effected turn brown an look worse than they did.

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Francis Barnswallow
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For what I was told (believe me I've had issues with leaf miners), they do not eat the fruit nor the stalk or root of the plant. They just mine the leaves. If you have a medium to large size plant with a lot of leaves, you should be alright. Just keep an eye on it and seek and squish them (or rip off the effected leaf and destroy it) when you see them.

They mine inside the leaf and are protected by it from sprays.

Most of the time they are just an annoyance and the plant should be fine.

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applestar
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You are getting good advice from an experienced leafminer hunter. :wink:

It's a good idea to dispose of them when they first appear because if the larvae mature, drop out of the leaves to pupate in the ground, and grow to adults, they will produce the next generation to infest your garden.

Full blown infestation will destroy -- as FB said -- significant % of the leaves (I.e. Energy factories) and affect the plants' production.

...it sounds like Organicide (whatever that is) itself is damaging the leaves.

HotPepperManFL
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Location: Lutz,FL

applestar wrote:...it sounds like Organicide (whatever that is) itself is damaging the leaves.
[url]https://www.organiclabs.com/organic_labs_home_lawn_garden_organocide_product.htm[/url]
I have used this for years and never had any problems but it seems when I spray it on where they have mined it turns the white trails they leave brown the next day..

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rainbowgardener
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Because the leaf miners are INSIDE the leaves, they are nearly invulnerable to anything sprayed on the outside.

Picking the leaves with trails off and destroying them (NOT in the compost pile!) is still the best solution. If you keep an eye on things and catch it early, it should not be a problem to sacrifice some leaves.

Also I discovered by accident that velvetleaf, a wildflower, is a great trap crop for them. The leaf miners prefer those really soft leaves that give the plant its name over anything else. Then you can just pick the velvetleaf leaves with trails in them off.



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