Beet Leaf Miner

[EmR]

I'm new here so first of all hello, I've been reading this website for a little while and finding it so helpful.

Now my first question, I think I have beet leaf miner on my beetroot, at least I presume they are beet leaf miner (or mangold fly?) or can other leaf miners attack beets too? The leaves of the beets have got blisters on them and when I open them up there are little maggots inside - nice. I've read online that they don't affect the beetroot itself, can anyone who's had leaf miner confirm if that's true? I'm wondering whether I should leave them in the ground and wait for them to bulb up (they are starting to but probably need another few weeks) or pull them now as they'll be inedible anyway?

Secondly, I've read that leaf miner live in the soil so I shouldn't grow beats on the same patch next year. Does anyone know what else I could grow there which wouldn't be affected?

Thanks

Em

[rustylady]

The leaf miners won't affect the actual root of the beetroot, but I wouldn't try to eat the leaves in salad. However they will eventually destroy the leaves so squish any that you find or if the infestation is bad then pick the leaves off and burn or bin them.

[EmR]

Thanks rustylady, no I definitely won't be eating the leaves! It's a shame, last year I grew beets for the first time and the leaves were lush and healthy but I didn't know to eat them, was looking forward to trying them this year but they're look awful, and are obviously maggot infested. Good to hear the root should be fine though. If it ever stops raining I'll remove the worst leaves, the newer ones are looking nice and green so anything I can do to keep them that way is worth a try.

[rustylady]

Whereabouts are you Em? It helps if you add your location to your profile, then it will show up on your posts.