Basil (Albahaca) disease. Help!

Miami, FL

Hi,
I have different types of basil and all of them have gotten this infection that leads to massive leaves death.
This problem starts being a little black spot that expands in one day to look like a gray star with a black spot in the center. The gray star becomes in a same shape blister. I have separated this blister from the leaf and I could see the black spot stuck to the leaf and all the surface inside this blister looks shiny and moist.
Please take a look in detail following this link:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2431563808_0e5a380bfa_b.jpg

I will appreciate if some of you could please give me some advice to restore my plants to health.
Thanks a lot, I hope I don't have to burn them all.

Thumbnail by Albahaca
Miami, FL

I have this EXACT same thing happening to my Basil and this is the only image online I can find that matches it. Did you ever find out what it is? I'm trying to cure my basil pant, but it doesn't look like any of the known fungus' that attack Basils (from what I read and see online)

Thanks!

Dylan

Conneautville, PA(Zone 5b)

I'm no expert but I would suggest looking online for the spot, not the plant. It might be found on other than basil on the net than you might have an idea of what my be happening.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

I have the same in my basil, and it did spread to mint. I wonder if it is the leaf spot named "cercospora". I am having trouble with another kind of cercospora atacking a Surinam Cherry tree. I have been eliminating the sick leaves of all plants everyday, and it seems to keep the disease at control, until I find a way to cure the plants. I heard that cupper based stuff can cure it, if you are willing to use chemicals.

Cocoa, FL

I have the exact same issue. If you look very closely at one of the bigger spots, you'll notice that there is actually a very small worm inside the spot between the top and bottom leaf surfaces (inside the leaf). I actually had to pull the leaf apart before I was able to find the culprit inside. This pest is attacking all my basil plants. I haven't seen it on anything else. I haven't been able to figure out what pest this is, but it is not a disease.

Valrico, FL

I was dealing with the same thing! I ripped the lead apart and sure enough there was a worm. The black spot is a best as I saw little babies running out! The question is...what do I do to salvage the plant now that I know what it is.

Sarasota, FL

Does anyone know what the name of this star shaped basil disease is? I also have it on my basil and lemon balm here in Southwest Florida. Looks exactly the same as the picture listed above. I also would like to treat it organically if anyone has advice on that as well. Thank you.

Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a)

This is a very old thread. You'll get a lot more help if you start a new thread. : )

Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b)

ajbilyk, it seems to be a pest rather than a disease. Read the above posts, and do the same. Can you find the pest?

A pest like this USUALLY has a life cycle like this:
Female lays eggs on or under the leaf surface.
Babies emerge and burrow in (if they were eggs on the surface) and start feeding in between the layers of leaf tissue. No pesticide will touch them.
They grow big enough and emerge.
Here the life cycle varies:
Might repeat the cycle for 2 or more generations each year.
Might burrow into a safe plant like under the soil to hibernate.
Other.

Control is usually aimed at preventing the females from laying eggs. Row covers are pretty good. Traps work on some pests, not on others, and you need to know what pest it is. Traps are usually baited with pheromones that are species specific. Repellents might work, but again, you need to know the name of the pest. Pesticide can work, but it needs to be applied several times through the egg laying period to kill the females when they land on the plant, before they lay eggs.
If you are into organic pest control, many people make a slurry (blender or food processor) of things like garlic, hot peppers, mint, lavender, marigold, or other pest repelling materials and spray it on susceptible plants. Since these pests seem to like fragrant plants like basil and mint, I would not include these.

Once you see the spots about the only thing you can do is to remove the affected leaves and destroy them so the pests are killed.

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