Hi, I fought orchid pests indoors for a long time and the most effective seemed to be a combination of neem oil/soap in water judiciously sprayed on affected plants and the putting of the plants outdoors in summer to let the spiders and other insect predators do their thing. I also found that repotting every year without fail kept pests from going from year to year in the potting mix. Using a fan in the area also helped with thrips and other things like that so long as I could keep relative humidity high enough, over 50 p.c. Outdoors, nothing works better IMO than encouraging predator insects. From wasps to lady bugs to praying mantisses and snakes, you can enlist an army of helpers by providing 1) diverse plantings of nectar producing flowers, 2) host plants known to attract beneficial insects, and 3) a source of water and shelter for frogs and other critters to use. Japanese beetles were really bad here because of an old tree that good denuded each year. It was some type of dark leaf cherry tree. Moles would come after the grubs and make a huge mess. Nothing worked, not even milky spore. So I cut down the tree and replaced with a Prunus mume and voila, problem solved. Sometimes you have to observe and replace things rather than fight momma nature IMHO. After 10 years I am happy to report I use no chemicals or pest controls of any kind. I live with a little black spot and rust but that's it. Keeping planting well spaced and diverse, with good airflow helps a lot. But probably avoiding problem prone cultivars is the most important thing which means I don't use tea roses at all. YMMV but I think using pest control gets to be too much of a chore to keep up and for every measure you come up with the bugs come with a counter measure. RJ

That looks to be more of a disease organism rather than the signs of insect damage. Basil is particularly prone to fungal issues so best to avoid crowding the plants (provide good air circulation) and avoid getting water on foliage. And Google "basil downy mildew" to see if that might be the problem and the suggested controls. As a first step, I'd suggest just pinching off any affected foliage. If that doesn't halt the problem you could also try the Neem oil - it has strong fungicidal properties. And is considered a safe, organic product. Just rinse thoroughly any produce that has been treated before eating. I'm not sure I'd be much concerned about the leaf miners. The damage they do is just cosmetic. It doesn't harm the tomato plants so no need really to treat.

Thanks, gardengal48. Since I still have no clue what is eating my mint, I was worried, because I'm growing several different plants indoors in an apartment with limited space. It would be unfortunate if the pest spread to my other plants. Good to know that the chances of the pest staying around to infect the other plants is minimal.

Thanks for all the comments. I did buy a Horticultural oil yesterday for the scales. Will be glad to get that on. As for the health of the plants, it's always a learning process to balance wet and dry, especially when it can vary so quickly in our seasons. If we have a few dry days where we ran the fire or wood stove, the soils in the house can dry up immediately, and then I find I'm dealing with thirsty plants. But, at other times they can go much longer and I have to watch overwatering. Here, low humidity will always be an issue. I know I need to do a better job of fertilizing regularly, which would help with the health of the plant. Light is generally not an issue. We have big south-facing windows with a great deal of natural and reflected light. In fact, the inside of the house gets less light in the summer because of the leaves on the trees, which is another reason plants go outside. Al and/or rina, could you clarify something for me? Are you saying detergents are bad, but normal "soaps" (NaOH) are OK? The Dr. Bonners soap I used in the spray from my original post is the Castille variety for babies and has KOH in it. Are you saying that's OK to use and won't damage the wax coatings and general health of the leaves/soil? It confuses me because the purpose of soap is to bond to oil and grease, so I'm not clear on what soaps are better than others, be they Castille, Murphys's, or something else. dchall,the molasses post was a big surprise. Did some research and was surprised to find that some of the off-the-shelf-products actually use molasses! Will research that more. Thanks for the info. Again, I appreciate every comment!