Brown elongated bugs in garlic - Ask Extension
My garlic started to brown early this year. When dug up, the bulbs were small, somE didn’t even form a bulb. Small reddish bugs were found in th...
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Brown elongated bugs in garlic #833703
Asked June 04, 2023, 6:24 PM EDT
My garlic started to brown early this year. When dug up, the bulbs were small, somE didn’t even form a bulb. Small reddish bugs were found in the garlic bulbs and up into the layers of the garlic stem. What is this and how is it treated foR next year? It happened in my yard and also my mothers yard over a mile away. Is it possible the seed garlic was infected at the time of shipping/planting?
Frederick County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi- the reddish brown capsules are the pupae of the allium leaf miner. This is a relatively new pest that is affecting all allium family members. The tell-tale symptom on foliage is lines of white dots from egg laying. The larvae hatch and move inside the leaves to reach the base of the plant.
Pull out and trash all affected plants asap. After harvesting healthy bulbs carefully remove all plant parts. We recommend that you rotate to non-allium crops for the next year. Assume that some pupae will survive. Protect next year's alliums (grown in a different bed) with a row cover.
UME web page on ALM
Several Extension web pages mention soil solarization as a control option but we haven't seen any research evaluating effectiveness.
https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/c/10116/files/NYSDAM-ALM-Fact-Sheet_CT.pdf
This web page recommends soil solarization for 4 weeks in summer:
https://extension.psu.edu/preventing-allium-leafminer-in-garlic-plantings
Jon
Pull out and trash all affected plants asap. After harvesting healthy bulbs carefully remove all plant parts. We recommend that you rotate to non-allium crops for the next year. Assume that some pupae will survive. Protect next year's alliums (grown in a different bed) with a row cover.
UME web page on ALM
Several Extension web pages mention soil solarization as a control option but we haven't seen any research evaluating effectiveness.
https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/c/10116/files/NYSDAM-ALM-Fact-Sheet_CT.pdf
This web page recommends soil solarization for 4 weeks in summer:
https://extension.psu.edu/preventing-allium-leafminer-in-garlic-plantings
Jon
