Vegetable Garden

Wednesday Wiglers – Beet Leaf Miner

August 10, 2010

Beet Leaf MinerAnother pesky pest, this beet leaf miner was found on the beetroot at the Community Garden a couple of weeks ago.

This is one occasion where vigilance really is the only cure as there are no home-made remedies (or no approved insecticides) that will work on these little maggots.

Beet Leaf MinerYes …. maggots. These little white grubs will turn into the pupae of flies. They wriggle about (or mine, as their name suggests) between the internal tissues of the leaves and if left unchecked may have two life cycles in one summer.

They are attracted to beetroot, spinach and Swiss chard so crops will be ruined once infected (yuk, who wants to eat maggots with their dinner?).

So what can you do?

If you spot the Beet Leaf Miner early on you can remove the leaves of the infected plants and destroy them. If not I’m afraid your crop will be ruined.

3 Comments

  • Reply Mr. H. August 10, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    This is often a serious issue in our gardens as well, although this summer for the first time in years leaf miners have not been to much of a problem. Our chickens miss them.:)

  • Reply Dee Sewell August 10, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    What a great use for them! I can imagine the chickens would love the treat and would be a personally more rewarding than putting the whole crop on the compost heap.

  • Reply 12 garden pests we don't want to see among our veggies September 17, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    […] Beet miner’s are maggots that have hatched from fly eggs laid between the layers of leaves. There’s no cure, organic or otherwise, other than vigilance. Once you spot them, remove the infected leaves and the plants will recover. This post explains them in more detail. […]

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