What's wrong with my beets?

[dannah19]

I am new to gardening; this is my first time trying to grow veggies in my back yard. I planted some beets last month from seed, and they have been growing and looking great up to a few days ago. I noticed that the leaves are discolored. Does anyone know what may be causing this and/or have advice about what to do to fix it? I have a few photos, but I don't know how to post them here (it's also my first time posting to this forum), but I tried to insert the links for the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12308962@N07/3529245896/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12308962@N07/3529246084/

Thanks for your help!

[jal_ut]

I guess no one wants to tackle this?

I don't know. Do you have slugs?

Just see what happens I guess. Hope it will work out.

I wish I had a better answer for you, but haven't seen this before.

Welcomt to the forum.

[TZ -OH6]

Looks like leaf miner damage. An insect larvae eats the tissue in between the upper and lower 'skin' of the leaf. Cut it off behind the damage and discard.

[dannah19]

TZ - I bet you're right! Last night I was looking at the leaves more closely again, and it seems like there is a pocket under the leaf membrane - like the leaf has been separated as you are describing, and I could peel the top skin of the leaf off. I started removing the worst of the leaves, but I'll go ahead and give it a good pruning tonight. Thanks for your help!

[elevenplants]

Looks like they might need thinning a bit too. Have you thinned them at all yet? There needs to be an inch or so between plants.

Rebecca

[Sandbar Lu]

How can you stop the insect larvae cold in it's tracks and prevent leaf miner damage? The leaves of my young beets are decimated.