Something on my strawberries

[annie8]

A few of the strawberries on my greenhouse are getting attacked by something. I saw a tiny green caterpillar on the bottom of a leaf. Maybe couple of cm long. Any ideas? Have put the plants affected outside for now to keep them separate.

[fishpond]

Are they last years or this years leaves?

[annie8]

The plants affected are a mix some are runners I just potted up last year and some are year 2 plants. For them it is on older growth I think.

[fishpond]

For a start remove all the OLD leaves and dispose of them.

[toomanytommytoes]

First photo looks like leaf miner, second like caterpillar.

[annie8]

For a start remove all the OLD leaves and dispose of them.

Will do that thanks.

[annie8]

First photo looks like leaf miner, second like caterpillar.

I just removed any of the plants that looked dodgy. Might actually be different bugs. Willl remove old leaves from them all and see how they get on. They are generally healthy looking and there is new growth on them. Will keep outside for now, away from the rest of my plants.

[Jungle Jane]

Are they too big to be sawfly larvae,I hope it’s not them,hopefully it’s a nice moth or something. Some caterpillars when found singularly are alright,it’s when there’s twenty or so,plants can’t cope with that. Putting them outsides a good idea & keep an eye on the others for holes in leaves,check the undersides of the leaves.

[Penellype]

Tortrix moth. These caterpillars spin a cocoon of silk to protect themselves, and they also stick the leaves together and hide inside, eating away. They seem particularly partial to strawberry leaves but I have found them on everything from blueberry flowers to tomatoes to japanese maple leaves, carrot foliage and kale.The caterpillars are darkish green and wriggle strongly when disturbed, so it is easy to lose them. They grow upto an inch long. They seem to survive the winter and carry on eating, before forming a small brown pupa which hatches into a small brown moth. There are many varieties - the ones I get look like this (picture is slightly bigger than life size):



If anyone finds a way of controlling the blighters I would be very interested. I pick the caterpillars off with tweezers whenever I see them and kill them, I catch the adults that appear in the fruit cage and under the vegetable nets and I pick off any damaged leaves and put them in the hotbin.