Are you talking about the very faint squiggly lines? If so, they are from leaf miners, a pretty common pest of basil.

Again, I can't see much of anything from the picture...if you have a infestation of whitefly, those little 'dots' are probably the nymphs.

I don't see anything that looks like mosaic.

in 40 years of gardening.. i have never seen virus in row crops ... not that i was looking for it or anything.. lol ... i am talking in the backyard ...

if you are a newbie.. you are way out in left field.. thinking about virus ...

frankly.. i even question minors.. lol ...

looks like the leaf was folded on itself.. perhaps at planting 2 weeks ago???

are you doing this in pots .. indoors??? .. grow lights?? window sill???

what are you doing about whitefly??

ken

Whitefly hang out on the undersides of the leaves. I doubt they're present. Even if they are, I also doubt they made those small speckles.

Hmmmm, I thought the image WAS of the back of the leaf.

Ken...how can you have gone 40 years without ever seeing a plant virus? Me thinks that you have, but didn't know what you were looking at. Annuals, perennials, fruits, vegetables.....every kind of plant from turf grass to trees can be infected by a plant virus.....including hosta!

You're the one in left field, lol.

Thank you for your replies, the picture is more than clear but maybe a lot of you haven't clicked on it to see the real size and yeah I am talking about those lines because they seem to be present on some of my pepper leaves and tomatoes too ..

the basil might be more advanced than the peppers and tomatoes that are still young seedlings ( or small plants ) 2 inch in height and yeah I am doing it in pots .. and I put them outdoors ...and take them inside at night around 5-6pm .. I live in the lower part of the Mediterranean

so are these lines caused by insects or cold ?! ... I usually dump boiled water on my soil to sterilize it and when it cools I put it in pots then plant.

I will try to take a pic without using my flash, as for the dots, I am more than sure, white flies or nymphs as someone said earlier .. because I see them and true they are under-leaves

I try to chase them and tried soap with oil ... nothing works so I left those nymphs hoping for a lady beetle to come across and save me

so those lines are caused by miners ,,, what can I do and never seen those miners before ,, are they tinnier than nymphs or white flies ?!

This post was edited by A_Hobbit_Tale on Thu, Oct 24, 13 at 1:06

Hobbit, thanks for checking in and clarifying some things!

Leaf miner larvae are so small that they are able to live and feed between the upper and lower leaf surfaces. They tunnel (mine) through the tissue. Those larvae really can't be controlled, other than by removing the leaf. In most instances, the damage is insignificant....merely aesthetic.

There are many species of leaf miners. The adults (the ones laying the eggs) may be a tiny species of fly, moth, wasp, sawfly, or beetle. The leaf miner adult lays her egg on or under the leaf surface, the egg hatches and the larva begin to feed on soft tissue.

We can try to repel the adults from egg laying and Neem oil can do a fair job at that. Or we can simply ignore it...the affected leaf is still able to photosynthesize. On ornamental plants, pesticides can be used if necessary, but not on food crops.

Leaf miners of various kinds can be found on many plants varieties. I had some on my tomatoes, peppers, and basil all summer, too! :-)

The whiteflies can be a real challenge. Again, Neem oil can be of some help, but needs to be applied to the underside of the leaves. Neem shouldn't be used in high temperatures or the hot, blazing sun. It works as an anti-feedant, and a growth regulator, and may smother eggs and nymphs.

@rhizo_1
Thank you very much for your reply and attention.

so what I understand is that those grey lines found on some of my peppers, basil and tomatoes are caused by leaf miners larvae, right?!

I tried applying oil + wash dish soap solution 1 spoon each to one liter of water and tried them on the roses leaves in the garden against spider mites and by the end of the day the leaves were eventually burned and died at end of the week but yeah there was no spider mites nor ants at all during that time

which led me to questioning, wouldn't Neem oil prevent the plants from catching the sunlight or worse create the glass burning effect on the upper side of the leaves ?!

More over, wouldn't applying Neem oil on the underside of the leaves prevent plant respiration

I also managed to get a close up of a " white fly " on one of the garden plants the same attacking my peppers and basil
I will post it later on

Homemade solutions can be hard on plants. Dish soaps are notoriously harsh and can cause burning on their own.

When used according to directions, neem or other horticultural oils are not likely to cause plant damage. No oils should be applied when it is very warm or cold. Horticultural oils, when mixed properly, will not block the sun nor will they block the stomata.

One should be well informed about the products used for pest control as phytotoxicity can occur pretty easily. But when used properly, they can be a safe and effective means of gaining control of certain pests.

Of course, knowledge of the pest is important, too.

so what do I do ... here take a look at those pics .. those are still young and they're already making me scary I'd lose them. what is the right mix that won't harm stomata nor photosynthesis

Tomatoes up / Peppers down .. still 2.5" and have such leaves.
:-( :-( :-(

Help please ..

Leafminers.

- Remove seriously affected leaves
- At first sign of trails on other leaves, examine closely to locate the pest inside the leaf, then squish that spot on the leaf.
- Repeat again and again throughout the growing period.
- Next season, plant in fresh potting mix or in a new place in the garden. The reason: Part of t he life cycle is in the potting mix/soil.