Something's eating my swiss chard!

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JohnCrichton75 League City, TX(Zone 9a) Sep 13, 2009

I sowed about 4 seeds in a raised bed in my backyard about a month ago. The plants are pretty small, maybe 3" tall but something is feasting on the leaves, and today one of my plants was pretty much up-rooted and just laying on the dirt (it was pretty sad.) This is my first go at growing leafy greens of any sort, so any tips would be appreciated! Specifically, are there any organic sprays that I could use to keep the pests from eating my plants? Do I need to cover the greens somehow?

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Jim41 Delhi, LA Sep 16, 2009

John can't tell you much without seeing the damage. Slugs are night feeders and hard on leafy plants. Don't know about the uprooting. Slugs wouldn't do that.

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Dorkasaurus Albuquerque, NM(Zone 7a) Oct 11, 2009

I have ground squirrels here and they love to eat and uproot leafy vegetables. They took all of my lettuce and chard, and also had a good time carrying off my green tomatoes. (Out of maybe 200 tomatoes I got to eat THREE..too lazy to fight them this year) Rabbits would do the same thing with your chard I think. The problem with spraying your leafy stuff is that if it makes it unattractive to your intruder it might make it unattractive to you too. From what I understand around here the only real option I have is to fence off my garden with 1" chicken wire or aviary wire and bury it about a foot deep around the garden since the stupid squirrels are burrowers. Cats might work for you but I don't have that option.

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candihurliman Sandy, OR Sep 22, 2011

Cutworms chew the base of a plant at night and you will find your plant lying on the soil the next morning. Cabbage loopers also called cabbage worms, chew holes in the leaves. Also fall armyworms start to attack leafy veggies between August and November.
check out this page:
http://livingfoodjunkie.blogspot.com/2010/09/garden-pests-and-harvesting-lettuce.html

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