7

I have a basil plant and all of a sudden the leaves are full of holes as shown in the picture. Holes on basil leaves

I am not sure if these are related:

  1. Two days ago it rained fiercely and at some point there was also hail.
  2. The basil plant had a neigbhour plant that had mealybugs.
  3. At the bottom of the stem, it appears some balls attached to the stem. I have no idea if these pests eggs. [Eggs]

In addition, there is no snails in the vicinity of the plant. I checked the surrounding of the plant and there was no snails.

kidra.pazzo
  • 1,181
  • 4
  • 12
  • 20
  • Related, as far as the little "nubs" are concerned: http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/19596/my-basil-stems-are-cracking-and-turning-brown – Stephie Oct 24 '15 at 15:18
  • @Stephie, how is that question related to my question? – kidra.pazzo Oct 24 '15 at 16:05
  • The little brown balls are discussed there (in the comments). If they come off easily, they are probably eggs, but they look like roots starting to form. – Stephie Oct 24 '15 at 16:34
  • Did the holes develop immediately after the hail storm? – GardenerJ Oct 24 '15 at 17:44
  • @GardenerJ I am not sure but I think that the holes would be bigger if they were caused by the hail storm. – kidra.pazzo Oct 24 '15 at 19:47
  • @Stephie I had to apply a little (very little) bit of force to take them off, i.e. they do not get off very very easily. However, don´t roots grow beneath the plant? – kidra.pazzo Oct 24 '15 at 20:15
  • Hi! Can you post a close-up picture of what you took off? Also, what texture is it, meaning soft and squishy, or hard like a root? If you can [edit] more information about that into your question, it might be helpful. Thanks! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Oct 24 '15 at 20:28
  • Roots can be aerial...adventitious...but need pictures of you pulling one of these guys off, a closer-up and definitely the UNDERSIDE of your basil leaves. Smacks of scale...but never have seen this round of one... – stormy Oct 24 '15 at 23:54
  • Look up "flea beetle basil" for the leaf damage. They like cooler wet weather. They go away here when it gets hot and dry. I think those are aphids on the lower stem, but the resolution is not really high enough. To me they look green, not gray... – Eric Deloak Nov 24 '15 at 00:34
  • The weather had changed to a colder one and I put it inside and it was after a while it had a couple of mealy bugs. Then leaves started to turn black, perhaps it wasn't happy inside. Unfortunatly, I was not able to save my basil – kidra.pazzo Mar 02 '16 at 08:57

1 Answers1

2

I think they are eggs of some parasite, Coccoidea Handlirsch or aphid. Spray on some decoction, you can try Cinnamon, Garlic, Chili Pepper, Nettle or simply Marsiglia Soap. Not all of them together of course XD

Maxxd
  • 81
  • 4