[LenH]

Hi,

Please could someone help me identify what is causing this on my potato leaves.

I would be most appreciative as I'm trying my hand at container gardening for the 1st time and really don't know much at all.

Many thanks in advance.

Len

[BabbyAnn]

It looks like an insect burrowing through the leaf (a leaf miner)

[LenH]

Hi,

Many thanks for the reply.

Is there any advice you could give me on identifying the culprit and what corrective action I could take?

[BabbyAnn]

a leaf miner can be any number of pests - usually the larvae of some moth or sawfly.  Unless the damage was so great that it affected the health of the plant, I personally wouldn't do anything about.  If you are at all concerned, just nip off the leaf with the damage.  As leaf miners are burrowed within the plant tissue, a pesticide would probably have little or no effect anyway.

[Aunt Sally]

Hi Len

Welcome to the forums - I think you are our first member from Mauritius.

I would agree with the others.  It's a leaf miner of some type.  Remove the affected leaf or squash the insect with your fingernail.

[LenH]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who replied - at 1st I thought it was blight of some kind and ended giving the plant a severe haircut.

Glad to hear it's not something that can infect the "crop" - I've noticed a little black 'n white spider that seems to have made the plant it's home but wouldn't have thought it was the culprit. As for other insects I can't see anything obvious....

At least 2/3rds of the plant's leaves were infected before the scissors came out but it seems to persist although the plant itself seems healthy.

It's just come into bloom and I really wanted to try and get some kind of harvest as it's my 1st time trying any form of veggie growing, so I guess it's a few weeks yet before the plant dies back and I can go digging for treasure...

All the best from sunny Mauritius - believe there was some real bad weather in the UK over the weekend...

[sunshineband]

Hi Len

Glad you have solved your potato riddle 

When you get a minute, perhaps you would like to go over to the Welcome section and introduce yourself, as with you being our first member (I believe) from Mauritius, it would be really interesting to hear what you grow etc

Other members can then reminisc over the last season.........