My suggestion is move to Alaska and then you will only be bothered by gold miners ;-)

Lou

If you don't mind using chemicals try Bayer Fruit, Citrus and Vegetable. It's systemic and stops leaf miners. The growers use it to keep their crops free of pests. Now is the time to apply it.

Not necessary to do anything abour Leaf Miners on tomato plants, there harmless. I get them all the time, just ignore them....

Tom

Cammunizm - Leaf miners like Tom said they only do cosmetic damage, nothing to worry about. I spray spinosad for that but sometimes I get them too.
I would suggest not to plant marigolds near veggies because in my experience they attract bugs, I usually plant them in other parts of the garden for ornamental purpose.

Silvia

Forgive me for asking, but do leafminers only cause cosmetic damage to citrus as well? I've noticed them munching on the new growth of my citrus trees. I'm wondering if I need to buy some Spinosad.
Thanks,
Aaron

Harmless is not really 100% accurate....they do tunnel through the leaves and do feed on the plant. They are a parasite so by definition harmful. The damage they do, the energy they steal though is so minor that it is best to just ignore them.

Acrawfl,

Same as with the tomatoes the damage they do is minor, just mostly cosmetic and as the tree ages they seem to become less attractive to the miners or there are just so many leaves they are not so noticeable. The commercial growers ignore them...and that is a good indication we should do the same.

Thanks, Bamboo Rabit. That's good to hear. I will ignore for now and see if my plants recover.

Aaron

Leaf miners are the pupae stage of a flying insect. The flying leaf miners can be trapped with blue sticky paper to prevent them from laying more eggs in the leaves.

acraw,

Like you I hate the way they make the plants look but they keep growing. The first flush of new growth in the spring is always miner free.

Ok thanks. I wasn't sure. I've read it's cosmetic, and I've read if it get's bad, they do drain the energy on plants enough to cause wilting/lower production.

As for Marigolds, I thought they were a companion plant for mostly everything, working not as a trapping plant, but as a repelling plant, like Basil and many herbs. Is this a myth?

Lou, are there still gold miners in Alaska? I thought Palin was hanging out mostly in the lower 48 recently.

Sumala,
Gold mining in Alaska is still going on in many areas. There are still a lot of rich areas to discover. In fact you would be surprised how many recreational gold miners are still working the lower 48 even today. At $1,836.50 a troy ounce it don't take all that much for you to find to become profitable.

Lou