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Beetroot

jim10jim10 Posts: 17
in Fruit & veg
Hi, something is damaging the leaves on my beetroot. Is this leaf miners? Should I remove the damaged leaves? Or is there anything else I can do to save them? Thanks


Posts

  • John HardingJohn Harding Posts: 541
    That is leaf miner damage and will affect Swiss chard as well as beetroot. If you look under the leaves you will see little clusters of white eggs laid by a small fly. These hatch and burrow into the leaves causing unsightly patches as in your pic. I tend to pick out the damaged parts of the leaves and destroy them and wipe off all the eggs you can find. Don't just throw the damaged leaves into the compost because the miners pupate and then hatch into the flies to continue the cycle.

    You can buy sticky yellow cards on eBay fairly cheaply, fasten them to sticks and push them into the soil close to the plants; the flies then get stuck on the cards (usually a stiff plastic) and perish keeping them off your beets/chard leaves. Hope this helps, John H
  • jim10jim10 Posts: 17
    Thank you John, I will follow your advice
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