Optimal Conditions
Early spring
Signature
Curled up new growth with mine tracks through the affected leaves and small bumps on their undersides, this being their eggs.
Prevention
Maintaining healthy plants and having a diverse range of herbs and flowers will mean that your plants are better able to resist attack, and you will have help from friendly predators to control the perpetrators. As the leaf miner are attracted to new growth, avoid over fertilising your plants.
Coping
Yellow sticky traps will attract those flies that are typically responsible for the leaf miners. Pheromone lures that attract the male leaf miners are also handy in suppressing mating. Mulching the soil will help to break the cycle as this will create a barrier to the soil, which is where the larvae pupate and hatch into mature, egg-laying insects.
Eradicating
Cut affected leaves and discard in a sealed bag rather than throwing in the compost bin.
