Hi- this appears to be damage from the allium leafminer, a relatively new pest of all crops in the onion (Allium) family. The rows of pale dots are egg-laying scars. You can look for larvae where the leaf sheathes meet the bulbs. You should pull up the plants and put them out with the trash. There are two generations per year: spring and fall. The key to prevention is to protect plants with a floating row cover in late March through May 1st in Baltimore and then again in mid-September if you have alliums growing.

There is more detailed information on these pages: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/allium-leafminer-active-and-spreading-maryland-0

https://extension.umd.edu/resource/allium-leaf-miner-again-really

https://ento.psu.edu/extension/vegetables/pest-alert-allium-leafminer.

Check pesticide labels for safe use on the specific kind of crop you are growing; some of the listed pesticides may not be available to homeowners. Verify you have this insect present by peeling back the leaf layers and inspecting the plants before using an insecticide. Spinosad is an example of an organic insecticde that gardeners can use to effectively control this pest.

Jon

You're welcome.

We don't recommend home remedies, as they are not only not proven to work but also may be unsafe for plant tissues and other aspects of the environment in terms of how they break down after application. Cooking oils in particular are not refined or processed to the degree that those used for pesticide applications are. Similarly, surfactants like dish soap may strip too much of the protective wax off of foliage, allowing for desiccation damage and less natural resistance to pathogens. While some products, like "spreader-stickers," are manufactured for the purpose of allowing a pesticide to better adhere to or absorb into waxy foliage, they too are specifically formulated for this purpose. Pesticides labeled for use on the crop and pest in question are the proper approach when treatment interventions are called for.

If you'd like, you can experiment on your home garlic by removing only the ends of the leaves showing egg-laying scars or the beginnings of leaf mines, to see if the rest of the plant can be salvaged. If undetected larvae have moved into lower plant parts, though, it risks allowing a population to remain in your garden and potentially affect next year's crops. (Though you can avoid issues via the use of row covers and/or by planting late at that point.)

Miri

You're welcome!