Leaf miners

MarlynnMarcks · March 20, 2016

Has anyone have trouble with leaf miners? I have about 20 plants ready to be put in Earth Boxes and fabric grow bags. They are large and lush. But this morning I found leaf miner lines on about 4-5 of these. I picked off the affected leaves but I wonder what is the right thing to do. Also, these are all on a screened in patio. How did the miners get there? Are the plants diseased? Should I throw them away? What are preventative measures?

ginger2778 · March 20, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarlynnMarcks

Has anyone have trouble with leaf miners? I have about 20 plants ready to be put in Earth Boxes and fabric grow bags. They are large and lush. But this morning I found leaf miner lines on about 4-5 of these. I picked off the affected leaves but I wonder what is the right thing to do. Also, these are all on a screened in patio. How did the miners get there? Are the plants diseased? Should I throw them away? What are preventative measures?

Sure, all of us in Florida have leaf miner issues. They are the larva of leaf miner flies. Get yourself some yellow sticky traps. The Seabright Labs brand are the best, they attract leaf miner flies, and whiteflies too, and that particular brand wont get lizards and even eorse, birds stuck to it. I cheaped out for a dollar once, and there were 2 adult lizards hortibly stuck to it, and I like lizards, they eat bugs. Freed them up, left for an hour, and a bird was stuck to it. Several flight feathers got pulled out freeing it up. A very horrible day.
Anyways, you can get them at Amazon. I put them out every 5 feet. The tiny flies you see are whiteflies.
They are strongly attracted to the yellow color.

Barb_FL · March 20, 2016

Take Marsha's advice. I will only use the Seabright Labs brand. I am using 1 card per plant since January. It didn't seem buggy then, my cards still caught a lot of bugs. Now I can tell it is getting buggier out; they look like the one Marsha posted in 2 days.

Buy the cards you will need now and then stock up when they are a better price.

I even saw a white fly over the weekend.

Suppose to get a cool front tomorrow.

Mushimi · March 20, 2016

Not on my tomatoes, but my citrus trees are leaf miner magnets - which is probably why they leave the tomatoes alone. Anyway, Spinosad works very well, and BT will work in a pinch.

kurt · March 21, 2016

I too grow some softer delicate's inside a pool enclosure.I place some traps outside of doors to and inside.Seems some follow or get blown in when doors are in use.I also found some worn screen openings that I repaired.Once inside they have a field day with un-tethered no predator feeding grounds.Sticky traps between door and plants stops most of them.As mentioned above Spinosad works but I can't use chemicals since I live a a agri-area and bees are a conflict for outside and mutts inside/outside of pool area.See where they are at outside and control them there.

ChiliPeppa · March 21, 2016

I used the Seabright Labs sticky traps last year and they worked great.

Hulamom · March 22, 2016

Spinosad is organic and very effective in killing leaf miners and preventing them. I've used it for the last 5 yrs.

ginger2778 · March 22, 2016

Do those of you who use Spinosad understand how it gets into the leaf to get at the miners? Can you explain that to me, I don't see how, trying to understand.

As far as organic, I don't think you can get more organic than a sticky trap, which never touches the plant at all. I find that once they are in place, you dont have to replace them the whole season, and its one less thing to have to spray for. I like easy.

elight · March 22, 2016

I agree with what everyone else said. The yellow sticky traps and spinosad (I used Captain Jack's Dead Bug) have been totally effective for me. I think that proximity to citrus trees was an issue; I moved some pots 10' away this spring and I think that's probably helped too.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

MarlynnMarcks · March 22, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hulamom

Spinosad is organic and very effective in killing leaf miners and preventing them. I've used it for the last 5 yrs.

Don't you have to worry about it getting into the fruit?

cajun33 · March 22, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hulamom

Spinosad is organic and very effective in killing leaf miners and preventing them. I've used it for the last 5 yrs.

Spinosad is great, however, it should be applied in the late afternoon to avoid harming honeybees.

kurt · March 22, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Do those of you who use Spinosad understand how it gets into the leaf to get at the miners? Can you explain that to me, I don't see how, trying to understand.

As far as organic, I don't think you can get more organic than a sticky trap, which never touches the plant at all. I find that once they are in place, you dont have to replace them the whole season, and its one less thing to have to spray for. I like easy.

If the leaves are coated (after foliar spraying)with trace amounts of the Spinosad(dried powdery), when the adult pierces the plant(feeding) or even when eggs are injected hopefully the Spinosad will transfer to miner,start growing inside the critter and eventually kill it.

coastal bend · March 22, 2016

spinosad is trans-linear goes into the leaf but will not trans-locate to new growth. it will last about 14 days. I've used it for 4 years mainly for worms but it dose stop leaf miners and I see dead aphid and white fly on the plants. I don't know if it would control a heavy infestation of aphid or white fly

Gerardo · March 22, 2016

I've got some leaf miners doing their thing, and they seem to really like the plants close to the citrus trees, so it's Neem/BT time. Do you guys think a combo of BT and Neem can disrupt the leaf miners? Not mixed together. Will also have sticky traps as part of the regimen.

Finally have the whiteflies under control on my tomato plants, but I'm thinking they might be running for cover into the citrus trees, so l'm gonna Met52 everything too.

Alternating each at 3-4 day intervals.

What's the best deal for Spinosad, Monterey or the Southern AG? Is there a 3rd option?

Armory contains: Neem, BT, DE, Met52, Daconil and soon Spinosad. Slowly but surely the less toxic arsenal is growing, and I must say it's fun to wage war with bacteria and fungi as weapons, especially when I envision the invading rat B@s(@rd$ bursting open.

coastal bend · March 22, 2016

I've always used Monterey . Spinosad will take the place of the BT you are using. spinsoad is the newest improved BT.

March 20, 2016	#1
MarlynnMarcks Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Port St Lucie, Florida Posts: 180	Leaf miners Has anyone have trouble with leaf miners? I have about 20 plants ready to be put in Earth Boxes and fabric grow bags. They are large and lush. But this morning I found leaf miner lines on about 4-5 of these. I picked off the affected leaves but I wonder what is the right thing to do. Also, these are all on a screened in patio. How did the miners get there? Are the plants diseased? Should I throw them away? What are preventative measures?

March 21, 2016	#5
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,491	I too grow some softer delicate's inside a pool enclosure.I place some traps outside of doors to and inside.Seems some follow or get blown in when doors are in use.I also found some worn screen openings that I repaired.Once inside they have a field day with un-tethered no predator feeding grounds.Sticky traps between door and plants stops most of them.As mentioned above Spinosad works but I can't use chemicals since I live a a agri-area and bees are a conflict for outside and mutts inside/outside of pool area.See where they are at outside and control them there. __________________ KURT

March 20, 2016	#3
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Take Marsha's advice. I will only use the Seabright Labs brand. I am using 1 card per plant since January. It didn't seem buggy then, my cards still caught a lot of bugs. Now I can tell it is getting buggier out; they look like the one Marsha posted in 2 days. Buy the cards you will need now and then stock up when they are a better price. I even saw a white fly over the weekend. Suppose to get a cool front tomorrow.

March 20, 2016	#4
Mushimi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: San Diego County Posts: 22	Not on my tomatoes, but my citrus trees are leaf miner magnets - which is probably why they leave the tomatoes alone. Anyway, Spinosad works very well, and BT will work in a pinch.

March 21, 2016	#6
ChiliPeppa Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Mojave Desert - California Posts: 368	I used the Seabright Labs sticky traps last year and they worked great.

March 22, 2016	#7
Hulamom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hawaii Posts: 53	Spinosad is organic and very effective in killing leaf miners and preventing them. I've used it for the last 5 yrs.

March 22, 2016	#8
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Do those of you who use Spinosad understand how it gets into the leaf to get at the miners? Can you explain that to me, I don't see how, trying to understand. As far as organic, I don't think you can get more organic than a sticky trap, which never touches the plant at all. I find that once they are in place, you dont have to replace them the whole season, and its one less thing to have to spray for. I like easy.

March 22, 2016	#9
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	I agree with what everyone else said. The yellow sticky traps and spinosad (I used Captain Jack's Dead Bug) have been totally effective for me. I think that proximity to citrus trees was an issue; I moved some pots 10' away this spring and I think that's probably helped too. Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

March 22, 2016	#13
coastal bend Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: south texas Posts: 114	spinosad is trans-linear goes into the leaf but will not trans-locate to new growth. it will last about 14 days. I've used it for 4 years mainly for worms but it dose stop leaf miners and I see dead aphid and white fly on the plants. I don't know if it would control a heavy infestation of aphid or white fly

March 22, 2016	#14
Gerardo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: San Diego-Tijuana Posts: 2,594	I've got some leaf miners doing their thing, and they seem to really like the plants close to the citrus trees, so it's Neem/BT time. Do you guys think a combo of BT and Neem can disrupt the leaf miners? Not mixed together. Will also have sticky traps as part of the regimen. Finally have the whiteflies under control on my tomato plants, but I'm thinking they might be running for cover into the citrus trees, so l'm gonna Met52 everything too. Alternating each at 3-4 day intervals. *What's the best deal for Spinosad, Monterey* or the Southern AG? Is there a 3rd option?** Armory contains: Neem, BT, DE, Met52, Daconil and soon Spinosad. Slowly but surely the less toxic arsenal is growing, and I must say it's fun to wage war with bacteria and fungi as weapons, especially when I envision the invading rat B@s(@rd$ bursting open.