Spinich Leafminer- Identification and Management

The adult fly appears in early to mid- May after overwintering in the soil as pupae. It is a about 5 mm long and are gray in color. The adults can be seen flying near the ground between the plants. The females deposit eggs singly or in rows of two to five side by side on the underside of the leaves. In as little as three days but more commonly in four to six days the tiny legless, white to yellowish maggots hatch from the eggs and work their way into the leaf tissue. The maggots feed between the upper and lower leaf surfaces of the host plants mining out the tissue in between. It is not unusual for several larvae to be in the same leaf. As the maggot grows and continues to feed, the mines, which are at first thread-like, become blotch-like and are easily seen on the infected leaves. The larvae are full-grown in 7 to 16 days when they drop to the ground and burrow a few inches into the soil to pupate. Two to four weeks later the adult flies emerge and will soon lay eggs for another generation. In New York you can expect three to four generations each year.
Management- a preventive spray schedule beginning when the spinach is two true leaves and repeated every 7 days. Remove wild hosts like lambsquarter, nightshades, chickweed, and plantain. Deep plowing in the spring can reduce the overwintering population by burying existing pupae. In smaller stands, infected leaves can be picked before the maggots drop to the ground. Removing and destroying these infected leaves can lessen the leafminer pressure
-Ray Range


Upcoming Events
Precision Agriculture Workshop VIRTUAL SERIES
January 21, 2021
February 4, 2021
February 18, 2021
Farmers and anyone interested in learning more about precision agriculture and how it can be implemented on the farm is invited to attend a 3-part virtual series. The series will feature Dr. Ali Nafchi, Precision Agriculture Specialist with CCE's NWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team and the Cornell Vegetable Program. Topics will begin with an introduction to precision agriculture and why any producer of an agricultural product should be interested in precision agriculture.
Remote GAPs Training and Farm Food Safety Plan Writing Session
January 27 - January 28, 2021
Join Cornell Cooperative Extension on January 27th for a remote GAPs training. Instructors will walk growers through how to conduct a risk assessment on their farm utilizing the seven areas of farm food safety. Participants will gain hands-on experience in creating a traceability system for their farm, as well as learn about packing house design with food safety principles guiding placement of equipment and suggested materials. Students will also learn about how to train their employees related to food safety and understand what they will need to implement on their farm in order to pass a third-party food safety audit, such as GAPs.
On January 28th growers can join us for a day focused on writing their farm food safety plan. Trainers will be joined by NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets Farm Products inspectors to give guidance and input for farms in creating their farm food safety plans to meet the needs for a potential audit. At the conclusion of day two growers will have all components of their farm food safety plans outlined with the most critical pieces.