How to Get Rid of Serpentine Leaf Miners

Serpentine leaf miners can cause a lot of problems to your plants by laying eggs between the leaves. When the larvae hatch out of the eggs, they crawl around and eat through your leaves. Detect a leaf miner infestation by the obvious holes and 'serpentine' paths on the leaves of your bushes.

Remove Affected Branches

The first thing you should do when getting rid of serpentine leaf miners is to cut off and destroy any branches or leaves that are affected by the pests. If possible, burn the discards to ensure that any remaining eggs or bugs die and will not be able to harm any more plants.

Young Plants

It isn’t easy to remove lots of branches or leaves from young plants as they could die from lack of photosynthesis. Check leaves and branches of your plants 3 to 4 times a day. Remove any insects to preserve leaves and branches for the plant’s survival.

Fertilize Your Plants

Fertilize your plants at least once a season. Fertilizer will enrich your soil and give your plants nutrients that they need to survive. The nutrients will also help your plants or trees grow and remain healthy and strong. The stronger and healthier a plant is, the more they will be able to resist and fight any damage caused by serpentine leaf miners.

Some easy ways to fertilize plants with things you have at home are with old eggshells or vegetables that got too old. Let them sit on the garden over the winter and mix them in the soil early in the spring. Even with a little fertilization, your plants could become healthier and stronger.

Give Your Plants Diatomaceous Earth

If you have a bad infestation with serpentine leaf miners, make sure that you dust your plants every other week with diatomaceous earth. By performing this act often, you will be able to kill any adult serpentine leaf miners and even larvae before they are able to infect other leaves and branches, and sometimes before they even completely damage the leaf or branch they are on. In getting rid of serpentine leaf miners regularly, you will be able to cut down their population and you will have less of a problem in the future.

Water Correctly

Make sure that you give each plant the water it needs to stay hydrated. If a plant does get infected with serpentine leaf miners, it will hurt their chances of getting the right amount of sun. Make sure that they at least get the right amount of water so that they can fight off the minors and still be healthy.

Horticultural Solution

Another thing you can do is spray your plants with a natural horticultural oil solution that will get rid of any insects on your plants, bushes and trees. Make sure that you follow the dilution instructions carefully when spraying your plants so that you do not harm your plants.

By being mindful of serpentine leaf miners and combating their attacks, you can save your crop from disaster.