How to Guard Against Leaf Miners

November 16, 2019

Joan here. I have been volunteering at FECO since the beginning of time. Recently, in my writing class, the instructor charged us to write a set of instructions for how to do something. Here goes!

Leaf miner larvae were infesting the Swiss chard I was trying to grow in the FECO raised beds. They ruined the leaves, inserting themselves between skins of the leaf blades and laying their itty-bitty eggs on the backs.

“What to do?” I asked Sue Hartman, who had helped me plant the seeds in April. “Cover the

Swiss chard with Reemay, a light cloth that lets air and water in,” she said, and showed me how to do it:

First, cut off all and destroy all the infected leaves. I lost about 1/3 of them.

Second, find five one-inch bamboo posts, four of the same length, and one slightly longer for the middle of the plot.

Then, so the posts don’t pierce the Reemay, duct-tape and secure eight-ounce yogurt cups upside down on each post.

Drive holes into the four corners of the plot, and one into the center of the plot to hold the poles.

Cut the Reemay generously and carefully lay it over the protected stakes.

Trim the Reemay where it gathers over the corners and apply two two-inch binder clips at each corner.

Set stones on the edges of the plot, so the Reemay won’t blow off. Presto: A leaf-miner-proof-plot!

Joan Davis

P.S. For more information on leaf miners, visit this website:
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/leafminers