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reedmac

Swiss chard eaten overnight

I had about 12 Swiss Chard seedlings sprouted - still cotyledons, no true leaves yet so I hadn't thinned them - but yesterday they were all completely gone. Just little stems. So I begin again...

I'm using the SFG method, and had planted one square, so would have thinned to 4 plants.

I'm thinking maybe I should start seedlings indoors under my dome/sunny window set up and see if I can get them to a decent size before putting them out so they might have more of a chance. Or, perhaps rigging a barrier of some kind to keep the bugs out. Maybe floating row cover? Of course, if it was worms, they can come up through the soil.

This happened with my basil as well. Any advice about how to protect young seedlings in the garden? Or growing Swiss Chard in seed trays to transplant?

It was so much easier to direct sow in the winter - fewer bugs, mild temperatures. Really struggling with it now...This is my first year growing real veggies.

I'm in Southern CA - LA and gardening in two 4'x4' raised beds.

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