Enter the Dragon: Serpentine Spinach Leafminer
Sometimes it seems like I'm doing nothing more than creating really swell plants for insects to gnaw on. Hearken back to Wednesday's post bragging about my spinach where I was all:
"My spinach brings all the neighbors to the yard,
And they're like 'It's better than yours'
Damn right, It's better than yours..."
Well, actually, that post was written on Sunday, filed away, and posted on Wednesday. Between Sunday and today, the leafminers hit.
The spinach leafminer (pegomya hyoscyami) starts out as tiny eggs on the underside of a leaf. They hatch, burrow into the leaf, and hang out like it's the Old Country Buffet on social security check day. While considered to be one of the most destructive pests known to spinach, other sources say, over the long term, they rarely injure the plant. Leafminers are easily recognized by the marks they leave. Some are serpentine (see photo above) while others are blotchy and oddly translucent.
For the small-time, Bartles & Jaymes sippin' gardener, they can be controlled by removing the eggs as they appear. Infected leaves should be removed and thrown into the neighbor's yard. You can also squish the larva while it's actually in the leaf, perhaps mentally noting not to eat that leaf come harvest time. Row covers or some other sort of garden cloth will prevent adult leafminers from depositing eggs.
Life on the grange is, indeed, wild and woolly.
"My spinach brings all the neighbors to the yard,
And they're like 'It's better than yours'
Damn right, It's better than yours..."
Well, actually, that post was written on Sunday, filed away, and posted on Wednesday. Between Sunday and today, the leafminers hit.
The spinach leafminer (pegomya hyoscyami) starts out as tiny eggs on the underside of a leaf. They hatch, burrow into the leaf, and hang out like it's the Old Country Buffet on social security check day. While considered to be one of the most destructive pests known to spinach, other sources say, over the long term, they rarely injure the plant. Leafminers are easily recognized by the marks they leave. Some are serpentine (see photo above) while others are blotchy and oddly translucent.
For the small-time, Bartles & Jaymes sippin' gardener, they can be controlled by removing the eggs as they appear. Infected leaves should be removed and thrown into the neighbor's yard. You can also squish the larva while it's actually in the leaf, perhaps mentally noting not to eat that leaf come harvest time. Row covers or some other sort of garden cloth will prevent adult leafminers from depositing eggs.
Life on the grange is, indeed, wild and woolly.
No comments:
Post a Comment