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Chelone glabra tender leaves curling after brown spotting and Underside tiny blackish bugs #794676
Asked June 07, 2022, 11:31 AM EDT
Are Chilonic Labra we’re doing beautifully last year. Now tender leaves are curling after dried out spots appear … noticing very tiny blackish bugs on underside. What’s happening and how to remedy. They’re located in my pollinator garden near clethera Alnifolia and blue Cardinalflower.
Howard County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi Ann,
We would love to see photos of the leaves, if you can provide any. Without photos, we suspect that aphids or thrips could be the culprits. Drying in areas without damage sounds more like aphids than thrips, but either could cause leaf deformations.
Compare the symptoms you see with our pages on aphids and thrips:
Aphids
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/aphids-flowers
Thrips
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/thrips-flowers
Jamie
Hi Ann,
Thank you for sending photos! It looks like old damage from a Four-lined Plant Bug. They feed on 250 different herbaceous plants! You'll typically see them in May and June, but they have only one generation per year. No control is necessary. You can clip off the damaged leaves if you wish. Your turtlehead looks very robust otherwise! Glad to see you are enjoying native plants in your garden!
Jamie
