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Vegetable Gardening

Swiss chard leaf disease - treat or pull?

10 years ago

Hi, all,

My Swiss chard, which has been in the ground for about six weeks and was growing well until recently, has what appears to be a raging case of cercospora leaf spot. (The pictures online of this disease look pretty much exactly like my plants do - purple and brown splotches turning to holes as it worsens.) I was able to diagnose the problem via google searches, and I'm sure the main contributing factor is the ENDLESS rain we're having this spring in the Kansas City area, but I can't seem to figure out what the treatment is. Can I pull off all the affected leaves (which is like 90% of them at this point), spray these guys with an antifungal something-or-other (I have some Serenade at hand but I don't know if it's useful here) and cross my fingers that the rain lets up for long enough for the plants to grow out of it? Or should I just pull it all up and replant? Also, is this going to spread to other plants? I already see spots on my beets, which makes sense since they're cousins, but is it likely to spread to my strawberries or beans or kale?

Last year in our epic drought/heat wave, chard was one of my few plants that really did great. Go figure.

Thanks much for any help!

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Comments (3)

seysonn
10 years ago
Just use younger chards as spinach. I am growing some for that purpose. They are good substitute for spinach.
planatus
10 years ago
Sproradic diseases triggered by bad weather are such a bummer. The UMASS reference would say to pull the plants and start over, but that it won't spread beyond the beet/spinach family. At least there is time to start over. I often have good luck with chard planted late and set out in early to midsummer.

Here is a link that might be useful: UMASS Cercospora
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HonoriaLucasta
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, planatus! My google skills let me down on that one; that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm pulling and replanting this weekend - I wanted to make room for some more kales anyway, so no real harm done.

Thanks again.

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