leaf miner trails on chrysanthemum leaves and aphids on buds, worried about spoiling cut flower quality
3 Answers
Leaf miner leaves winding trails in the leaves and heavy attack weakens the plant and spoils the look, while aphids cluster on tender shoots and buds, suck sap and leave sticky honeydew that brings sooty mould, both hurting cut flower quality. Manage them with monitoring using yellow sticky traps, removing and destroying badly mined leaves, keeping the crop clean of weeds that host these pests, and encouraging natural enemies. For sprays, use only products labelled for the crop and pest, follow the label dose and the waiting period before harvest so there is no residue on flowers you are selling, and rotate modes of action to avoid resistance, which leaf miner develops quickly. Avoid blanket spraying near flowering. Get a current control programme for these pests from your KVK or a floriculture specialist suited to your area.
Yellow sticky traps told me early when the leaf miner was building, so I could act before it spread. Pulling off the worst mined leaves also helped knock the numbers down.
Mind the waiting period before you cut, I once sprayed too close to harvest and worried about residue on flowers going to market. Rotate the sprays too, the leaf miner got used to one quickly.