What's Eating My Swiss Chard?
Chard is spinach's tougher cousin and shares its enemies — leafminers above all. The bright stems stay pristine while the leaves take the hits.
The usual suspects
Leafminers
The signs: Pale winding tunnels and puffy tan blotches sandwiched inside the leaf; surfaces unbroken.
What it looks like: Backlight a leaf to see larvae and frass in the mines; white egg clusters line the undersides in spring.
What to do: Strip and trash mined leaves, crush eggs weekly, and net spring regrowth — chard rebounds fast with clean new leaves.
Slugs
The signs: Smooth ragged holes low in the canopy, glistening trails in the morning.
What it looks like: Night feeders sheltering in the dense leaf bases.
What to do: Beer traps, evening patrols, iron phosphate around the crowns.
Aphids
The signs: Curled crinkled leaves with sticky film and pale cast skins.
What it looks like: Green to dark colonies on the newest growth.
What to do: Hose off firmly — chard tolerates rough handling — and soap-spray repeats.
Flea beetles
The signs: Pinprick holes scattered across younger leaves.
What it looks like: Tiny black jumping beetles.
What to do: Cover young beds; harvest outer leaves and let the plant outgrow it.
When it's not a pest at all
Brown-edged older leaves in high summer are heat stress; cut the plant back hard and it will reflush in cooler weather. Spotting with tan centers and dark rings is Cercospora leaf spot, a fungus of humid spells.
Or just point your phone at it
Snap a photo of the leaf, the bug, or the droppings, and Harold — the advisor built into Homestead Paradise — names what he sees, tells you friend or foe, and what he'd do next. Honest when he's unsure, and careful where it counts.
Put Harold's Eyes on it — free 14-day trial