I duly sowed a few of the seeds (the packet contained approx. 250), and in due course potted-up six healthy young plants.
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| 22 May 2016 |
I don't grow herbs in any of my raised beds, so I planted most of the Oregano near the fence where my fruit trees are, but I also put one in a terracotta pot.
The five plants over by the fence have not done brilliantly, mainly because they don't get enough direct sunlight, but the one in the pot grew well. By the beginning of August it had produced flower buds and I was starting to think about harvesting some of it. [Note: I was pleased to see that the flowers, when they opened, were white, confirming this as the correct Greek Oregano, not the pale pink of the ordinary Oregano.]
Now the bad news. Unfortunately something has taken a liking to my Oregano and nibbled all the leaves!
The upper surface of almost all the leaves has been eaten away, leaving them a pale unsightly (and bearing in mind this is supposed to be a culinary herb, unpalatable) mess.
Any guesses what might be doing this, and how to stop it? I often get a similar thing with my Thyme, and someone has suggested it might be caused by Thrips. Looking up Thrips I see (on the ubiquitous Wikipedia) this statement concerning their curious feeding habits: "...This process leaves a distinctive silvery or bronze scarring on the surfaces of the stems or leaves where the Thrips feed." That sounds like it, doesn't it?
The damage is alleged to be mainly cosmetic, but I don't much fancy cooking with Oregano that has been subjected to such treatment!
I think I will need to relocate the other plants (possibly into pots?), and I'm going to have to find something that will kill Thrips (or whatever).
There seems to be some tunnelling - could it be leaf miner? If you hold a leaf to the light it may be possible to see the miner inside.
ReplyDeleteNo, definitely not leaf-miners - I'm all too familiar with those!
DeleteThat was my first thought too - leaf miner but, you says it is not... can you give us a closer look to the foliage, a macro or super-macro mode photograph?
DeleteI'll take some more photos and post them soon. Thanks for your interest in this investigation!
DeleteBeginnings of powdery mildew?
ReplyDeleteSee this page for remedies.
http://goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu/blog/tag/good-life-garden/
I also read that vinegar works. Don't know, never tried it.
No, it's not mildew. It's definitely creatures of some sort eating the leaves. BTW I used milk on mildew earlier this year, and it worked quite well.
DeleteI've had very similar over my Radish but I didn't investigate.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, how unfortunate for you. I hope you are able to find out the cause.
ReplyDeleteOh dear what a shame that it isn't triving. I bought a plant early in the summer and it seems to be ok. I haven't seen this problem before. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI was right there to suggest leaf miner but Sue as ever was on the ball and beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteI would regard it as just cosmetic and do nothing about it!