Author Topic: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??  (Read 1542 times)

George the Pigman

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Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« on: June 10, 2022, 17:48:09 »
Today I noticed that all the onion sets I planted in April have twisted leaves but otherwise appear healthy. Now my first thought was Allium Leaf Miner which have seen before but after pulling a plant and  thoroughly examining and picking apart all the leaves and the bulb I can find no evidence of the maggots or pupae or any damage to the leaves or bulb. Now looking online it seems that twisting of leaves is a common response of onions to a lot of things even including growth conditions.
Anyone seen this before i.e. twisted leaves and no bugs!
« Last Edit: June 10, 2022, 18:33:49 by George the Pigman »

Paulh

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2022, 21:05:54 »
I'd go for aphids or something like that which have been predated off. If still growing OK, let it be, otherwise hoick them out!

Tee Gee

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JanG

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2022, 06:02:08 »
I was thinking of asking exactly the same question as I have had the same experience. But yesterday, on pulling a few more twisted leaf onions up and looking more closely, I found just one leaf miner bug of the brown variety.
After doing some more reading online, I wonder whether it’s possible that after this stage of pupating they might drop down into the soil and wait there until they fly again in September to October. Could it possibly be that many have already dropped? I’m still rather puzzled though because I can’t see evidence of tunnelling on mine. But this would be my first meeting with these creatures so I haven’t got any previous experience to draw on.

I’m certainly going to cover my leeks though, to defend against the possible later September/October infestation, and keep my fingers crossed that they weren’t already visited when I planted them out in the second week of May.

George the Pigman

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2022, 11:48:10 »
Don't think its thrips as its not the tips that are curled . The whole stem is twisted but healthy. I have a vague memory that this happened once several years ago and I left them and they were OK. Wondered if it could be growth conditions i.e. big variations in watering/temperature. I know some plants can have weird growth due to that. We have certainly had some weird and variable weather over the last few months!!

Beersmith

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2022, 17:43:38 »
I experienced exactly the same sort of twisting on onion sets and shallots. But over the last couple of weeks there have been encouraging signs of recovery with quite a lot of straight growth appearing.  I'm optimistic.  Given the seasonal behaviour of leaf miner (assuming that is the culprit) the crop may have grown,  ripened and been lifted before they reappear. Here's hoping!
Not mad, just out to mulch!

gwynleg

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2022, 14:34:56 »
I’ve also got twisted leaves on my onions and shallots. They’re not covered as my leeks will be so maybe it’s the allium leaf miner. I certainly have those in/on my newly pulled garlic. …. It is getting to a stage where I’ll have to cover my entire allotment against critters!

George the Pigman

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Re: Twisted onion leaves but no bugs??
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2022, 19:14:59 »
Well Beersmith looking today some of them have straightened up!! Could be they had a minor attack of a bug but recovered. Or it could just be a weird effect of the weather .
I was going to put them leeks beside the shallots in the same  bed but now I will use another bed further away to reduce the chances of the leeks being attacked in August

 

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