columbine leaf miner advice needed

One of my columbine plants has the unmistakable signs of being infested with a columbine leaf miner. I sprayed the leaves with neem oil last night, but this is an insect I've never dealt with before. Luckily this plant is potted so I've moved it away from my other plants. What is the best way to get rid of this pest? 95% of the leaves on this plant have the snakey white pattern on it. I don't want to get rid of this plant, but I also don't want it to spread to my other columbine plants, especially my alpine columbine.

I did a google search for columbine leaf miner and found some good answers. If I remember right, the best defense was removing infected leaves and burning them. I ended up dumping the whole plant. I think this is a pretty good site. http://www.caes.state.ct.us/PlantPestHandbookFiles/pphC/pphcolu.htm

I think I'm going to remove all of the infected leaves as well as completely change the soil and see if this little nasty bug shows itself again.

good luck!

Great site that was posted for plant pests.

Last night I cut all of the leaves off, leaving the stems about 3" long, placing all of the leaves into a plastic container. I dumped all of the soil into the same plastic container, carefully removed the plant, rinsed it off, and replanted into a different pot with new soil. The old soil and leaves were bleached to kill anything and properly disposed of. I've had the plant less than two weeks, the time it takes for the leaf miner to complete its lifecycle, so I think I dealt with it soon enough.

good job, keep your fingers crossed!

If these are the small lightened "trails" that appear on the lower leaves...
We have had them for ever. I just cut off the really damaged leaves & keep an eye out for new signs of them. As far as I knew, they were not deadly to the plant, but quite common - am I wrong? I have had Columbines for years,& they just keep growing along, miners or not! Perhaps I am experiencing a different pest?

I think you're experiencing the same pest, and from what I've read, the east coast summer rains are what make this pest so common in your part of the country. Out in the pacific northwest, our summers are hot and dry so this pest isn't as much of a problem, but we are now entering our rainy season, which basically lasts until next May. And since our winters are mild (snows once every couple of years), I was afraid this pest would multiply quickly.

The reason I treated for this pest so aggresively is because there are quite a few columbine plants in my and other neighbors' yards. I have never seen a single "trail" on any of the leaves. The last thing I wanted to do was allow a pest from one of my plants (was shipped from the east coast) to infect nearby plants.

I'm with JRush as well. My Columbines all have leafminers each year. Pretty common here too in horicultural settings (funny-never seen "wild" columbines with leaf miner damage). I cut the affected leaves off if they are really bad (some year they are and some not). They don't kill the plant. As for them spreading around the neighborhood I'm not sure you can do anything. I thought leafminers were pretty common everywhere?

After doing a little research, there are columbine leaf miners here in Oregon too--I just haven't seen any evidence yet. I think one of the reasons I took such drastic measures is because it was one other thing I didn't want to battle. I've had to spray my alpine columbine with neem oil a few times this summer to deal with fungus and other bugs.

With the long wet season here, SLUGS are everywhere. We're not talking the big ones. I'm talking about the little ones that are slithering vacuums. Has anyone here tried the "dish of beer" trick?

I have leaf miners on my Columbine each year as well. I don't even pick off the leaves anymore and the plants are doing fine. I have also tried the beer trick but it is really nasty!!! If you really want to do that take a 16 or 20z plastic soda bottle, cut it in half, and put your beer in the bottom and invert the top half on the bottle to make a funnel. I partially buried mine both to hide them and make them easier for the slugs to get into. After they 'fill up' you can throw the whole deal away. Nowdays I buy slug bait though and sprinkle it in the outside borders of the few beds that are affected. Not as environmentally sound but much easier for me.

I have seen frogs in my garden & I worry about using slug pellets... birds like to travel in too. The slugs really did a number on my Daturas this year. I like the idea of Neem oil - I'll bet they HATE that stuff. I go out at night & snip the buggers in half. Not very effective, but it makes me feel good.
Bwa Ha Ha Ha!

Yesterday I cleared out a large clump of weeds and not only discovered over 50 slugs, but many clumps of their eggs, nothing a little pyrethins spray couldn't fix. I got tired of throwing them onto the road and/or roof and started stomping on them each time I had a handfull. Had to scrub my hands to get the slime remnants off. I'll have to try that trick with the 16oz bottle. I'm tired of seeing my beans, pansies, and herbs being munched.

I touched one last year & simply could NOT wash it off! It just grossed me out even more. Ugh!

I get the leaf miners every year and they don't seem to bother the plant. I don't bother with them myself. They also only appear to pick on the columbines and none of my other perennials.

Has anyone had problems with columbine leaf miners on an "alpine columbine" plant?

I've grown columbine for years, in the back yard. Between the leaf miners and a leaf spot, the foliage was often unsightly. I remove infested/infected leaves, sometimes remove all the leaves, especially right after blooming. I put a few out in the front yard, and treated with a bit of systemic insect control granules- no leaf miners! Not an organic solution, but once the miners are inside the leaf, few sprays will work.

I guess I'm just the lazy type, anyway had leaf miners many times. Not on all the columbines, so just have ignored them. Don't think I ever lost any and really the little trails didn't bother me too much. Donna

I have always been plagued with the leafminers until this year. I bought some Bayer Rose and Flower insecticide and sprayed the leaves. It is systemic and needs to be reapplied every 30 days. It really works and my plants looked good all summer.

great, think I'll try that too.

I'm able to live with the leaf miner damage I get, which isn't too drastic. What really bothers me is some critter just appears at night shortly before the plant's ready to bloom and eats all the soft parts of the leafes. It literally leaves skeletons of the veins behind. It doesn't kill the plant but makes it reeeeeely ugly 8-( Does anyone know what this one could be?

SLUGS!
The most repulsive garden pest of all time.
They couldn't possibly get any grosser or irritating than they already are, but feel free to vent... (I feel better!)

No what you mean about slugs. They do a lot of damage.

It seems the more I weed in my garden, the more slugs I find. Does frost kill these little buggers? One of my coleus plants has just been ravaged by slugs so I decided to bring it inside (potted plant) and I dug out 3 slugs in the soil!

Could be slugs - this pest doesn't eat holes, though - they eat the WHOLE leaves on the whole plant except the veins - overnight. They don't go for the blossoms, tho. When the plant starts recovering, then the leaves don't get eaten at all, but there are still slugs in the garden - plenty of them this year especially! They can sure make the garden look pretty wierd - skinny little fingers on the ends of stems. I guess I'll check my local master gardener to make sure.!

I had really tiny green worms/catepillars on my columbine this year which ate the foliage down to nothing but bare stems and veins overnight, just as you describe. I was astounded and only found the buggers after really close inspection as they are the same exact color as the columbine. Have no idea what they are or where they went after feasting, as they are gone and the plants have new unaffected growth. Any ideas?

Cam

Oh - I'm sooo glad to have someone tell me I'm not crazy!! I sure hope someone out there has an answer for us.