Phytotoma rara
Active Member
Hey there Rollitup community,
I'm trying to help a friend figure out what's happening to her plants, here's the story:
My friend has a self-made indoor currently growing 10 plants on their vegetative phase. She observed a type of damage unknown to her and asked me for help. She often has problems with mites (Tetranychus urticae), so I had recommended her to apply powdered sulfur. That was working perfectly until now, but I was completely clued by the type of damage I observed now: there are no insect exuviae on the leaves, nor could I see any living insect, but there is clear mechanical damage on leaves. I examined these with a 60-100X hand microscope. Most of the damage occurs on the upper side of leaves, as holes that become oxidized and dry. I have seen some similar kinds of damage caused by gall-dwelling eriophyd mites, but here there's no gall! I wonder if it could be that they're just feeding from parenchyma tissue. Some of the damage looks like that of mining insects, but I'm not convinced.
I will leave you with some pics, hopefully you can help me out what this is.
BTW, if these are mites I was about to recommend her to apply abamectin. Any opinions about this?
Cheers!
I'm trying to help a friend figure out what's happening to her plants, here's the story:
My friend has a self-made indoor currently growing 10 plants on their vegetative phase. She observed a type of damage unknown to her and asked me for help. She often has problems with mites (Tetranychus urticae), so I had recommended her to apply powdered sulfur. That was working perfectly until now, but I was completely clued by the type of damage I observed now: there are no insect exuviae on the leaves, nor could I see any living insect, but there is clear mechanical damage on leaves. I examined these with a 60-100X hand microscope. Most of the damage occurs on the upper side of leaves, as holes that become oxidized and dry. I have seen some similar kinds of damage caused by gall-dwelling eriophyd mites, but here there's no gall! I wonder if it could be that they're just feeding from parenchyma tissue. Some of the damage looks like that of mining insects, but I'm not convinced.
I will leave you with some pics, hopefully you can help me out what this is.
BTW, if these are mites I was about to recommend her to apply abamectin. Any opinions about this?
Cheers!
