Leaf miner in everything!

[Marb67]

This is driving me mad. I used to get leaf miner in Chard and Beets but now it gets in everything. I know it has to lie dormant in the soil to be able to pupate but how on earth has it got into potted on seedlings of plants like Clary Bouquet, chard, Borage etc that haven't been near the soil, only potted on in shop bought compost ?

[ameno]

Leaf miners are fly larvae. The adults can fly. They can get to your plants regardless of where they are. If you want to keep them out entirely then you'll need to cover them with fine mesh, making sure to leave no gaps.

Also, you'll be dealing with at least two different species of leaf miner here. Beet leaf miner is what affects chard and beetroot, but it won't affect the other plants. That will be a different type of leaf miner.

[Jungle Jane]

There’s lots of different species which like different host plants,I get them in honeysuckle & my borage leaves too & I get rid of them by cutting the section of leaf off & squashing so they don’t turn into flies. They don’t seem to do any damage except spoil the look of the leaf,more protection would be needed if you wanted to keep leaves bug free for eating,although it’s easy to cut off the tunnel,different species must be flying around now to be able to get to your potted seedlings,it has been warm for their development.

[Marb67]

Now getting them in my tree and other spinnach. is there no end to this misery

[Jungle Jane]

When you see them are you cutting the leaf to kill the larvae otherwise they’ll just turn into flies & there’ll be more. I had some in my pea leaves,it’s part of the garden life. Life’s too short to get stressed about things you have no control over,try to see the positive things in everything,it’s quite depressing otherwise…