Chard Challenges

[perrako]

Hi folks! This is my first-ever garden and I'm learning a ton along the way. I'm having a blast.

I've planted a bunch of Chard in Oakland, CA (Zone 9, I think?) in largely direct sun. The first harvest was great, but I'm seeing more and more of these leaves that have sort of thin, browned out spots. The larger bite holes are clearly just some bugs having a snack, and i don't mind them so much. But are these brown dead spots a fungus or blight or something?

Thanks so much!

 

[pepper]

My guess is bacterial soft rot.

 

[pepper]

Actually looking closer I'd say leaf miners.

 

[Chuck]

With your sun IMO it is sun scorch. I would either cover them with a 40% shade cloth or put them somewhere out of the afternoon sun. The small holes from cabbage loopers or beetles.

 

[pepper]

With your sun IMO it is sun scorch. I would either cover them with a 40% shade cloth or put them somewhere out of the afternoon sun. The small holes from cabbage loopers or beetles.

You know a heck of a lot more then I do, brown spots seem kind of random to be sun scorched don't you think? Maybe not, I am just asking. A lot of it looks perfectly healthy.

 

[Chuck]

Actually looking closer I'd say leaf miners.

It very well could be one of the Blotch Miners, on Chard probably a Spinach Miner. We need better pictures of the affected areas to make a better diagnosis. I grew chard last summer and mine had severe leaf scorch and it looked like these. Where ever a bug takes a bite out of a plants leaf it becomes an area of stress and it appears that each of these areas have little holes in them and this is what makes me think it is sun scorch. Soft rot makes a watery brown area on stuff I have seen it on.

 

[pepper]

It very well could be one of the Blotch Miners, on Chard probably a Spinach Miner. We need better pictures of the affected areas to make a better diagnosis. I grew chard last summer and mine had severe leaf scorch and it looked like these. Where ever a bug takes a bite out of a plants leaf it becomes an area of stress and it appears that each of these areas have little holes in them and this is what makes me think it is sun scorch. Soft rot makes a watery brown area on stuff I have seen it on.

I zoomed in on the pic. It really doesn't look like scotch to me but again I could be very wrong. I don't get scorch here, or not yet so I can't really compare to it. This is why I love my microscope.. it gives a view of things impossible to see by the eye or a macra camera phone pic.

 

[Chuck]

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I zoomed in on the pic. It really doesn't look like scotch to me but again I could be very wrong. I don't get scorch here, or not yet so I can't really compare to it. This is why I love my microscope.. it gives a view of things impossible to see by the eye or a macra camera phone pic.

Not scorch I don't think. I'm stumped, not a clue. But it is in areas bitten by whatever it was and that has to have something to do with it.

 

[pepper]

Not scorch I don't think. I'm stumped, not a clue. But it is in areas bitten by whatever it was and that has to have something to do with it.

It looks frosted to me, like bugs had a chew and it got some kind of moldy bacteria. I don't know either. I personally would pinch off the leaves and toss them in the garbage and hope it pans out. I don't think it would hurt to eat it but I would give that a pass since I eat mostly with my eyes lol

 

[Chuck]

It looks frosted to me, like bugs had a chew and it got some kind of moldy bacteria. I don't know either. I personally would pinch off the leaves and toss them in the garbage and hope it pans out. I don't think it would hurt to eat it but I would give that a pass since I eat mostly with my eyes lol

I agree, pinch and toss. Chard grows quickly so you would hardly notice

 

[perrako]

This is awesome, thank you so much for the help! I took a couple of closer/better pictures in case it illuminates anything. I'll pinch and toss -- do you think I should proactively pull off leaves showing the infection so that it doesn't spread? Or does this kind of infection look more localized?

 

[Chuck]

On picture #3 I see what appears to be minor damage from a leaf miner. Whether this major damage was from a leaf miner I can only guess. The damage from leaf miners, the spinach leaf miner in this case, is usually minimal and the activity only last 2 or 3 weeks, so it is doubtful if you see any more damage this year. Pinch, toss and destroy the affected leaves. There will be eggs in the soil. The best way to stop this from happening next year is to apply beneficial nematodes late in the winter or early spring. The second best is to apply a Neem Oil soil drench to the entire garden.

 

[perrako]

Fantastic -- thank you so so much! Definitely gives me confidence that I haven't ruined the crop