1
point
Sunflower leaf yellow/brown spots/puckered. Need help

Sunflower    None Given

These are mammoth sunflowers. About six weeks old. One and a half feet tall. I was hoping to have beautiful flowers for the summer and harvest the seeds in the end. Now I'm not sure I'll make it there. I don't know if this is disease or pest or both. Can someone please help I am very new to gardening.
Leaf 1. Front and back. Shows a puckering that is on some leaves. Some are more destructive looking.
Leaf 2. Front and back. Shows some yellow area with spots. The backside shows a riddle translucent material. It's not cottony like I expect mold to be.
Leaf 3. Front and back. Yellow dots
Leaf 4. Front and back. Yellow dots blemish top left on the front. More translucent material on the back
Leaf 5. Brown tip on leaf. Have 2 of these.
Leaf 6. Dying leaves on the bottom of the plant. Several plants have this


Posted by: Missi (3 points) Missi
Posted: May 6, 2017




Answers

1
point
It seems Lyriomiza attacking ,but some of the fotos are not clare enough.


Posted by: Mario H.Podliszewski (4 points) Mario H.Podliszewski
Posted: May 6, 2017


Missi commented,
What is lyriomiza? And can it be fixed? The pictures can zoom in super clear on my end. I don't know if you can or not. I wonder if I have more than one thing going on here. Those little dots are showing up on my squash and cucumber plants on the other side of the property. Although they are tiny and few.
almost 7 years ago.

Mario H.Podliszewski commented,
Lyriomiza is a miner fly,you must control it by treatments with insecticides and eliminate already damaged leaves
almost 7 years ago.

David Hughes commented,
Where are you located Miss?
almost 7 years ago.

Missi commented,
I am in southeastern North Carolina.
almost 7 years ago.

Missi commented,
I compared photos online with the Photo I took of the fly. Looks exactly like Liriomiza. I checked this morning, my other crop of sunflowers is showing some tunneling in places where larva have burst out. This is at least part of the problem. Now what? What is the best thing to use against these creatures?
almost 7 years ago.



1
point
I just checked on my plants. I took a picture of a little fly on my sunflower leave. Could this be it?


Posted by: Missi (3 points) Missi
Posted: May 6, 2017


Michael Skvarla commented,
I agree with the identification of Liriomyza. It's probably L. trifolii based on the location and host plant, though without a specimen in hand I can't be sure. Liriomyza trifolii is highly polyphagous and has been recorded from sunflowers. University of Florida has a good fact sheet on the species, including a section for control. http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/v... Some of the damage pictured could be done by L. trifolii, especially the mines mentioned in another comment, though I'm not convinced all of the damage is caused by them. It's probable there are multiple pests/issues.
almost 7 years ago.



1
point
Hi Missi -

I'm an entomologist graduate student from Penn State!
I'm not familiar with Lyriomiza, but you may also have thrips.
Here is a fact sheet on Western Flower Thrips, for example: http://extension.psu.edu/pests/ipm/pe...

For treatment, you have options. You can purchase biological control/beneficial insects (such as predator mites and pirate beetles), you can use sticky traps to catch adults, and you can use pesticides (such as insects soaps and pyrethrin).

Please keep us updated on what you try and what works.


Posted by: Angela Coco (2 points) Angela Coco
Posted: May 7, 2017


Missi commented,
Thank you for helping. Everyone who commented, you've all been quite helpful. After much Internet research and guidance from the plant Village community, I now know that I have aphids, leaf miners of various sort and spider mites. The latter seems to have only affected my bell pepper plant and Gerbera Daisy. I threw out the plants that were infested. As a beginner, I thought that was best to prevent worsening. The sunflowers had leaf miners for sure, a few aphids and a lot of ants who I saw actively chewing the leaves. I see some new damage but it is minimal. Sunflowers are also dry. One stalk snapped in half at the point where it's bottom leaves came from. My cucumbers sustained chemical burn I believe. But they are recovering.
almost 7 years ago.

Missi commented,
I also put out permethrin dust yesterday. That is working well so far. No sightings today
almost 7 years ago.



1
point
I agree with the identification of Liriomyza. It's probably L. trifolii based on the location and host plant, though without a specimen in hand I can't be sure. Liriomyza trifolii is highly polyphagous and has been recorded from sunflowers. University of Florida has a good fact sheet on the species, including a section for control. http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/v... Some of the damage pictured could be done by L. trifolii, especially the mines mentioned in another comment, though I'm not convinced all of the damage is caused by them. It's probable there are multiple pests/issues.


Posted by: Michael Skvarla (4 points) Michael Skvarla
Posted: May 8, 2017




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