any idea on the pest?

16 years ago

So these are some plants started from seed about 3 or 4 months ago. Some Mexican variety that will have blue flowers (I'm not big on knowing the variety, but these aren't limelight or mexicana, that I do know). In plastic pots these guys are maybe 8 inches tall with some nice branching.

I'm seeing the leaf tips and that area of the leaf becoming a discolored light brown or tan and no parts of the leaf are missing exactly but the color of the leaf in the affected area is fading from light green to the brown color. The leaf structure looks intact minus the color, but I think "swiss cheese" when I look at it. Something is going on.

Any idea of the culprit or the cure? My first uninformed guess is thrips, but I'm hoping someone with knowledge of salvia pests can help me further to identify and then help with a suggested possible spray. I'm in the Bay Area of Cali.

thanks for any comments. cheers.

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Comments (4)

robinmi_gw
16 years ago
Capsid bugs or spider-mite maybe.
hybridsage
16 years ago
Another insect that can look like spider mite damage is
Lace bugs. Does the damage look like the green part of the leaf is gone leaving the brown veins showing(skeletonized)?So that you know-Thrips would be giving you problems in the flower part of the plant not on the foliage. Do you notice any insects present? The other question is what
type of fertilizer do you use and what are the numbers on the package?
Art
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drusilla
16 years ago
Are you sure it's a pest - have you seen any sign of them? If the plants are under cover could it be sunburn (maybe where drops of water have fallen on the leaves)?
deep___roots
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes...skeletonized is a good description. I also see some tiny tiny black gunk (droppings?) on the leaves. Haven't really seen anything flying around, but who knows.
These plants are too young to flower, but I did give them some fertilizer once to help root development. Don't remember what that fertilizer was.
These plants do have lots of growth down low so I could just top them which would eliminate the affected leaves but the pest would possibly still be present, no?
Anyways, I'm thinking whatever this pest is, might horticultural oil or insecticidal soap eliminate a wide spectrum of possible bad guys? Are these products okay to use on salvias?
Appreciate your replies.