leaf miner flies!

bower · June 14, 2013

After starting to see some 'tiny pest' signs on my pepper leaves, I hung a sticky trap and caught a couple of little flies... very tiny flies.

Not a great picture, but afaict from internet sources, the culprit is a leaf miner fly (Agromyzidae).
Anyone else have trouble with these?

nolabelle · June 15, 2013

OMG! Leaf miners are the most frustrating pest I have in my garden no matter what I do. And my container garden is not immune.

I have tried sticky traps and caught nothing but dirt the wind kicks up. Neem oil "might" be a slight deterrant. I will be spraying my week old transplants today with neem. Everything we planted last week is showing signs of leaf miner grubs. The plants in the yard are scarred badly as well. Fortunately, as long as the plant is healthy and producing new leaves, it will continue to grow and bear.

I wonder if there is some kind of cover to keep out the flies. Like floating row cover or something. I'm at my wit's end with these things!

ginger2778 · June 15, 2013

I hung yellow sticky traps every 4 feet and for the first time in 8 or 9 years I had almost no leaf miner trouble, as well as no trouble at all with whiteflies. I love those things and I will never be without them again. I have always had a severe infestation of silver leaf whiteflies and the TYLCV they bring, until this year. The leaf miners were a bonus.
Many thanks to the inventor of these things, wherever he/ she is.

Marsha

bower · June 15, 2013

I totally agree, Ginger, the sticky trap is better than none - this is the first time I've actually been able to capture and take a look at what's buggin me!

Incidentally, for indoor or greenhouse control, I saw something flying around the lights above my plants, so that's where I hung the sticky and it worked.

kurt · June 15, 2013

I have them in the yard and in the enclosed pool garden.The Leaf Miner innoculates the leaf,the critter crawls around in the flesh of the leaf,eats and eventually emerges and drops to the ground or container and emerges as a fly again to start all over again.Catch the flying ones with the sticky traps and soak the soil(drench) underneath in ground with a good non toxic(to plant ,humans,beneficials) bug killer to stop the life cycle.You will eventually slow them down and eradicte the different breeding and life cycles.They really do not damage the plant but they might vector some plant ailment when they puncture leaf surface.Plus the tunneled squiggly lines make for a unattractive looking plant.

bower · June 15, 2013

Several of the tiny 'invisible' leaf pests seem to have the same lifestyle, of dropping to the ground to pupate with the leaf or flower they infested.

One thing that has worked well for me in enclosed spaces, is to make the rounds daily to give the plants a shake and remove all the dead leaves, spent flowers etc that are vectors for that life cycle if allowed to fall and lie on the ground.

I've used warm soapy water (insecticidal soap) as a soil drench on tomatoes with no ill effect to the plant, which should kill nymphs in the soil.

For infestations in the field, it's recommended to turn the soil to a depth of at least 4-5 inches in the fall, and again in the spring before the last frost, to kill them with cold. Also by deeply digging and burying the surface soil, they cannot emerge from being buried deeper than their usual depth around 4-5 inches. If the soil is free of those stages, row cover can be used to prevent another infestation by adults that blow in on the wind....

nolabelle · June 20, 2013

Is there a homemade recipe for insecticidal soap as a soil drench?

I have been dumping soapy mop water on the grass in a corner of the yard for years and it has done nothing to harm the grass. It is 1/4 cup of Murphy Oil Soap to a gallon of water.

Thanks!

P.S. Going to try the sticky traps once again.

bower · June 20, 2013

nolabelle,
afaik Murphy Oil Soap is equivalent to the commercial insecticidal soaps.
Good luck!

coastal bend · June 20, 2013

Leaf miners are not a real problem . They can make the plant look ugly but if the plant is growing it will out grow them . The problem is drought when plants are not putting on new leaves the damage looks worse. Spinosad will do a good job on keeping them out and that is a BT. When you start seeing the problem spray Spinosad and about 2 weeks latter spray again and you will see very little damage from the leaf miner.

June 15, 2013	#2
nolabelle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: N.O., LA (Zone 8b) Posts: 136	OMG! Leaf miners are the most frustrating pest I have in my garden no matter what I do. And my container garden is not immune. I have tried sticky traps and caught nothing but dirt the wind kicks up. Neem oil "might" be a slight deterrant. I will be spraying my week old transplants today with neem. Everything we planted last week is showing signs of leaf miner grubs. The plants in the yard are scarred badly as well. Fortunately, as long as the plant is healthy and producing new leaves, it will continue to grow and bear. I wonder if there is some kind of cover to keep out the flies. Like floating row cover or something. I'm at my wit's end with these things! __________________ I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!

June 15, 2013	#5
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,501	I have them in the yard and in the enclosed pool garden.The Leaf Miner innoculates the leaf,the critter crawls around in the flesh of the leaf,eats and eventually emerges and drops to the ground or container and emerges as a fly again to start all over again.Catch the flying ones with the sticky traps and soak the soil(drench) underneath in ground with a good non toxic(to plant ,humans,beneficials) bug killer to stop the life cycle.You will eventually slow them down and eradicte the different breeding and life cycles.They really do not damage the plant but they might vector some plant ailment when they puncture leaf surface.Plus the tunneled squiggly lines make for a unattractive looking plant. __________________ KURT Last edited by kurt; June 15, 2013 at 10:26 PM.

June 20, 2013	#7
nolabelle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: N.O., LA (Zone 8b) Posts: 136	Is there a homemade recipe for insecticidal soap as a soil drench? I have been dumping soapy mop water on the grass in a corner of the yard for years and it has done nothing to harm the grass. It is 1/4 cup of Murphy Oil Soap to a gallon of water. Thanks! P.S. Going to try the sticky traps once again. __________________ I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!

June 15, 2013	#3
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	I hung yellow sticky traps every 4 feet and for the first time in 8 or 9 years I had almost no leaf miner trouble, as well as no trouble at all with whiteflies. I love those things and I will never be without them again. I have always had a severe infestation of silver leaf whiteflies and the TYLCV they bring, until this year. The leaf miners were a bonus. Many thanks to the inventor of these things, wherever he/ she is. Marsha

June 15, 2013	#4
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	I totally agree, Ginger, the sticky trap is better than none - this is the first time I've actually been able to capture and take a look at what's buggin me! Incidentally, for indoor or greenhouse control, I saw something flying around the lights above my plants, so that's where I hung the sticky and it worked.

June 20, 2013	#9
coastal bend Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: south texas Posts: 114	Leaf miners are not a real problem . They can make the plant look ugly but if the plant is growing it will out grow them . The problem is drought when plants are not putting on new leaves the damage looks worse. Spinosad will do a good job on keeping them out and that is a BT. When you start seeing the problem spray Spinosad and about 2 weeks latter spray again and you will see very little damage from the leaf miner.