Leaf miners

[Muarco]

Back we are with another bug invasion. This time seems like leaf miners have invaded my balcony. I haven't encountered this enemy before and haven't found much with a thread search.
The damage is currently limited to only those two plants. One is a feminized seed from Green House that barely started flowering and the other is an OG Kush Auto that's about 2 weeks from harvest.


I also noticed some leafhoppers...


...but apparently every time I check the plant there is nothing alive on it. Those damn bugs are getting good at hiding!

How would you guys suggest to intervene?

 

[Im'One]

NEEM oil spray works for me

 

[TanzanianMagic]

An easy way to avoid insect attacks is to

- use rich soil, and then sprinkle some oats and a lenghtwise sliced banana on top of the soil, then cover with 1/2 cm of hemp bedding.

This encourages fungal growth throughout the medium by giving them carbon and calories (fat, protein and carbohydrates - starches and sugars), for long medium and short term energy.

By creating an environment that is friendly to fungi in the soil, you also encourage the growth of fungi throughout the plant, called endophytic fungi, which produce penecillin against infection by other fungi, and whose pectin is an anti-feedant for insects.

- Nutrients

Silica is a very important nutrient in mid-late flowering, because silica is what resin is made of, and silica is necessary for the strength of cells. The plant prioritizes the silica that goes to protect it's seeds, so by giving the plant more silica from mid-flowering onwards, this both results in heavy resin production and absence of/much less severe disease or infection during flowering.

Potassium is a meta-nutrient, because it builds thick stems and branches, which allow more nutrients to be transferred from the soil to the roots, through the stems to the foliage/flowers. Very often when you see nutrient deficiencies, the plant has a very thin, woody or reddish stem. This is a clear sign of shortage of potassium, or a lockout because of cold or overwatering.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

NEEM oil spray works for me

Please be sure to inform people you use neem (or any other azadirachtin product) on your plants. I will appreciate the info and refuse the cannabis. Nothing personal.

Though CHS definitely exists, in my opinion it's azadirachtin which is responsible for 90% of the people being diagnosed with it. CHS is a reaction to THC, and I use THC all day, every day, every month, every year, for decades now.

The only pain and vomiting form cannabis use I have, is from cannabis tainted with neem or azadirachtin.

 

[Ace Rothstein]

Use a flashlight and spend some time after sunset, add some cedar bark mulch. As Im'one said last chance to use neem oil if they just recently started flowering.

 

[Ace Rothstein]

Cedar shavings can be used as mulch around plants and landscaping all around your patio and decks, helping repel 80,000+ different insects. To keep them potent, add fresh cedar shavings every 3-6 months – wetting the chips will also help release the oils that repel insects (Source Palmer Feed .com)

 

[Muarco]

An easy way to avoid insect attacks is to

- use rich soil, and then sprinkle some oats and a lenghtwise sliced banana on top of the soil, then cover with 1/2 cm of hemp bedding.

This encourages fungal growth throughout the medium by giving them carbon and calories (fat, protein and carbohydrates - starches and sugars), for long medium and short term energy.

By creating an environment that is friendly to fungi in the soil, you also encourage the growth of fungi throughout the plant, called endophytic fungi, which produce penecillin against infection by other fungi, and whose pectin is an anti-feedant for insects.

- Nutrients

Silica is a very important nutrient in mid-late flowering, because silica is what resin is made of, and silica is necessary for the strength of cells. The plant prioritizes the silica that goes to protect it's seeds, so by giving the plant more silica from mid-flowering onwards, both results in heavy resin production and absence much less severe disease or infection during flowering.

Phosphorus is a meta-nutrient, because it builds thick stems and branches, which allow more nutrients to be transferred from the soil to the roots, through the stems to the foliage/flowers. Very often when you see nutrient deficiencies, the plant has a very thin, woody or reddish stem. This is a clear sign of shortage of phosphorus, or a lockout because of cold or overwatering.

Just a few thoughts.

Hi Tanzanian, thanks a lot for the reply. I'm wondering if the banana's skin will cause fruit flies to form in the under canopy.

 

[Mr. J]

Hi Tanzanian, thanks a lot for the reply. I'm wondering if the banana's skin will cause fruit flies to form in the under canopy.

Why is it that every noob asking for help takes the craziest, most ridiculous advice and runs with that instead of just doing something normal and proven as suggested by everyone else? A banana???? I mean, seriously. Seriously, people. Resin is made of silica. Jeezus.

 

[wh1p3dm34t]

[YOUTUBEIF]lmu1G30Nltg[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[Vanilla Phoenix]

Why is it that every noob asking for help takes the craziest, most ridiculous advice and runs with that instead of just doing something normal and proven as suggested by everyone else? A banana???? I mean, seriously. Seriously, people. Resin is made of silica. Jeezus.

My guess would be it sounds the easiest. Ppl always want the easiest way. But in this hobby, nothing is easy.

 

[Dropped Cat]

My guess would be it sounds the easiest. Ppl always want the easiest way. But in this hobby, nothing is easy.

Good post.


I mumble disparaging comments to myself every time someone posts how easy something is...

 

[Muarco]

Why is it that every noob asking for help takes the craziest, most ridiculous advice and runs with that instead of just doing something normal and proven as suggested by everyone else? A banana???? I mean, seriously. Seriously, people. Resin is made of silica. Jeezus.

If you see his post the banana was on the top of the list and I thought that would have been the most effective and most practical. Also I have no idea of where to find cedar wood. Now I'm left with the silica that could easily be found in a grow shop but still no explanation of how that could help against leaf miners and leafhoppers

On a side note: chill out bro nobody said anything. I just replied with 5 words and hell broke loose. Beside the fact that I already feed silica during germination, I should be free to pick on the advice that I feel most comfortable with. You're basically calling me a noob just because I asked information. Does this kind of behavior makes you a "pro"?

 

[Mr. J]

Just look for bugs and squish them when you see them. Spray with some neem or something else while the plants are still vegging. Save the banana for your breakfast or maybe a light snack between meals. Or do the banana thing if that's what you want, what do I care really?

 

[Ace Rothstein]

If you see his post the banana was on the top of the list and I thought that would have been the most effective and most practical. Also I have no idea of where to find cedar wood. Now I'm left with the silica that could easily be found in a grow shop but still no explanation of how that could help against leaf miners and leafhoppers

On a side note: chill out bro nobody said anything. I just replied with 5 words and hell broke loose. Beside the fact that I already feed silica during germination, I should be free to pick on the advice that I feel most comfortable with. You're basically calling me a noob just because I asked information. Does this kind of behavior makes you a "pro"?

Cedar bark is sold at most good plant nursery's. Cedar shavings are sold as animal bedding at big box stores,
pet stores and feed stores. Cheap, effective and available for 5-10 dollars.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

Hi Tanzanian, thanks a lot for the reply. I'm wondering if the banana's skin will cause fruit flies to form in the under canopy.

A few, however if it is covered with bedding, it will very quickly be colonized by fungi or bacteria. Plus, outdoors it brings in more predator insects. I also have to add that my best results are from pots that have a water reservoir, so the roots grow into the reservoir and over/under watering is never an issue.

My setup is:

hemp bedding
calorie layer
light soil
supersoil
drainage layer of grow rocks
spacer
water reservoir

Most of what I do is top up the reservoir with water that has been standing next to the plant for about a day - to equalize the temperatures of the water and the reservoir, and to allow chlorine to evaporate.

 

[buzzmobile]

Leaf miner control

Controlling Leafminers:

Monitoring leafminer populations early in the season allows action to be taken early on if needed. Blue Sticky Traps attract and trap adults before they can lay eggs that will hatch and damage foliage. Physical removal of leafminer eggs should be done when eggs are spotted.

Plant trap crops like lamb's quarters, columbine and velvetleaf if you have dealt with leafminers in past growing seasons. They serve as a more inviting alternative for the leafminers and direct them away from the crops being protected.

Diglyphus isaea is a beneficial wasp that parasitizes leafminer larvae, killing them before they can perpetuate. Best results are achieved when releases of D. isaea are made early in the season before leafminer populations have grown to large numbers.

If you notice leafminer damage on foliage, thoroughly apply Spinosad (Monterey Garden Insect Spray) to all plant surfaces. Once ingested, spinosad stops larvae from feeding and they will die within 24-48 hours. Repeat applicatons 2-3 times throughout the growing season if damage persists.

 

[Muarco]

I'm writing again in this thread because in the last month I wasn't able to stop the invasion. I underestimated the enemy and I'm afraid it got out of hands.

It all started almost a month ago. The first mines had begun to appear and I thought I could solve the problem by manually removing the affected leaves. Unfortunately this was not the case. With the arrival of the autumn I moved the plants indoor and I believe to have carried in some unwanted guests. I own two tents and in both there are plants that are showing signs of infestation.To the eye they look like leaf miners' eggs. Black dots sprinkled on the higher foliage as onto the lower one. If my guess is correct, I have a great problem ahead. By now a large number of leaves are showing the same symptoms and I believe that neem oil won't cut it. I have yet to proceeded administering any type of pesticide so far. The only precaution was to remove the leaves as soon the first tunnels would come out.

Here some pictures:

Besides the leaves where the damage is clearly recognizable...

...I started noticing some spots on many leaves...

...drove by curiosity I grabbed the loupe to give a closer inspection and...

...this turned out. I studied well the lifecycle of a leaf miners and to me those looks like eggs waiting to hatch.

Sifting through the forum I read that the ideal would be to unleash specimens of diglyphus isaea that practically feed on the eggs and larvae of the miners. I like the idea of ​a biological warfare but it's a pity that it is almost impossible to find them in Italy. Now I was looking for other remedies also because I fear that the infestation will expand further and seriously damage the crop. The plants inside the bigger tent are around the 3rd week of flowering and are photosensitive. In both tents I'm using soil as a medium. In the other tent there are 5 autos with the oldest around 7 weeks from seed. What worries me the most is the amount of those black dots on the leaves and the fact that somehow they already reached the other tent. I appreciate all the previous suggestions but as the threat is now bigger than before I would like to hear a way to threat the problem with a more aggressive approach.

 

[buzzmobile]

The black stuff is leaf miner poop in the tunnels they bore. It is not eggs. The other damage on the leaves looks like you also have thrips present. Spinosad will kill both thrips and the leaf miners. The leaf miners are not a major issue. Thrips can be a problem, but spinosad is an effective control.

 

[Muarco]

The black stuff is leaf miner poop in the tunnels they bore. It is not eggs. The other damage on the leaves looks like you also have thrips present. Spinosad will kill both thrips and the leaf miners. The leaf miners are not a major issue. Thrips can be a problem, but spinosad is an effective control.

Thanks for the tip, I've definitely a thrips infestation as well. Will get my hands on spinosad ASAP

 

[Muarco]

I'm writing back to give some updates and to ask for more assistance in this murky situation.

In the past days I got my hands on a 15ml bottle contraning 80% Neem Oil and 20% Citric extract. I then mixed this with a 750ml bottle with 3% Potassium Soap in a Olive Oil based solution. Both products made to threat fruit plants. I relied on this alrenative since in my country in order to purchase spinosad you need to own a license (don't ask). I first applied the solution at night and once again 2 days after but this time due to the rush around 4 hours before the lights would turn off. I'm not sure if the neem it's been causing this or is just a deficiency. I also gave just water on the last watering because the leaves looked quite dark and suspected an over of N. Next thing the plant is turning wilty and yellowing with some really weird looking leaves. All this happened in just over 3 days. And the only two changes I made in the last week was spraying this solution and feeding just pH adjusted water.

Also another plant in the box is having some issues but she's on week 3 of veg and received just a first irrigation of grow nutes.

What's going on here?