something strange is happening to my beets and spinach...

[Holly B.]

I started my beets and spinach from seed Memorial Day- all has been looking good...no pests....plants are nice and colorful...then last week the plants...a few at a time...shriveled up- like they were saturated and then wilted and died...there are no pests that I can see and other veggies in the bed are doing great- anyone know whats happening? I am actually harvesting some of the spinach plants and each day it randomly happens to a few more plants....

[Pathfinder]

could be the root fly

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, I agree, sounds typical of the root maggots (the larvae of the root flies). There are a variety of them: sugarbeet root maggot, cabbage root maggot, etc.

Dig one of your plants up and check the roots. If it is this, you will likely see holes/ tunnels in the roots or scraped places on the beets. Ultimately they can sever the beet (root) from the plant, so the plant dies. The injured part would probably be at the bottom, below the level of soil moisture.

The beet root maggot also uses spinach as one of its main host plants, so much so that spinach is sometimes used as a trap crop for them, to keep them away from commercial beet plantings.

If it is this, unfortunately, there may be nothing your can do to save your crop, since the maggots will be in your soil.

[Holly B.]

Oh boy....thanks for the feedback.....I will check that when I get home from work today-I did plant more seeds for both in another bed (I am using raised beds this year) and they just sprouted....by the time they wilt and die, there isn't a root at all...just the top portion...I do have some that have not gotten to that point but I know won't make it.. I will put them out and inspect the root. Are there any other plants that I should be concerned about? Honestly everything else is growing fine and seems to be doing ok....

Is there any way to avoid this problem?

I was thinking maybe Damping off but I have no experience with this kind of thing-there are giant radishes right next to my beets and spinach so I am perplexed that they would not have been touched....

[Holly B.]

The fist pic is what the plant looks like when it starts to die... The second one is what the roots look like- kind of dark in color and non existent...I wasnt seeing any holes but what looked like rot?