White Munchie Trails on Columbine

So, I've always been an organic gardener, just naturally. Couldn't stand the smell of the weird stuff, and my parents always planted hardy stuff, used japanese beetle traps (its called kids with a coffee can, and orange fingers from squishing the eggs with our fingers), and minimal chemical type stuff. Now, I'm almost 30, I'm landscaping the "family farm" now, and have continued to ignore pests, until now. Previously, if it died, no big loss, aesthetics came last here for years (dad's mulch pile was straight out the door, in the most commonly viewed spot in the yard, but easiest to get to from kitchen, he ripped out all but 1 patch of lillies, and 1 hidden stonecrop). Now I've taken over!! I'm an artist, I need pretty stuff that will spread spread spread! Too much solid green here. But, I babble....


Here's the big question: I have columbine, happy and healthy, blooming away, other than these white trails on the leaves. Minimal leaf material missing, almost looks like varigation. I know something is having it for dinner, but I have no clue what. My first foray into pest control last year was miserable. I completely misdiagnosed and lost my whole crop of ranunculus, freesia, and dahlia. So, I'm back to my "if it needs digging in the fall, I don't want it" mentality.


This forum rocks.....this website rocks. :)

Now to re-find those threads about ants and slugs (wet spring, not usually a problem, but watch out this year!)

-=LuLu

The trails are caused by leaf miners. The lavae eat through the middle of the leaf causing the silvery trials. Quite often, by the time the Aquilegia starts to look untidy, they have matured into the adult stage and flown off but you can sometimes squash the end of a trail in a leaf and feel a squidgy sensation :) then you know you've found the lavae.

They do make the plants look unsightly but they tend not to be a major problem unless the plant is infested with them.

Good luck with the slugs, we're infested with snails of all things this year, I collected an entire potful last night but the fowl were in bed so I suspect the snails managed to get away.

Thanks for the help. Sounds about right.

-Lu

I have leaf miners too, but they usually don;t do much damage other than change the looks of the leaves. I don't worry about them, and I have never lost a plant to them.
Josephine.