And now my chard looks like this, covered in brown spots, seemingly overnight ...
A quick search has uncovered the reason may be due to leaf miners. Which are disgusting. They are small grey flies, and they are "truly one of the grossest" garden pests, according to one writer. They literally lay eggs, which hatch, and the maggots burrow between the leaves of the plant.
Yes. Gross.
I didn't know this when I took the above photo, so the infested chard is still in my garden. From what I read, I can spray with pesticide, which I'm not going to do. I can treat with neem oil, an organic treatment which works for a number of problems.
But from what I can tell from the innumerable blog posts out there, I may just want to pull out my fledgling chard, treat the soil and move on! I only planted four chard plants this year; I've never grown them before. I'm not tied to them.
But next year if I decide to plant them, they recommend row covers from the get-go (so the flies can't lay the eggs in the first place) and NOT planting it in the same place it was planted the year before. Rotate with something other than beets, chard or spinach (all affected by leaf miners).
If I'm wrong about what is affecting my chard, please tell me in the comments. I'd love it to be something else!
How to you treat the soil?
ReplyDelete