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What's eating my plants?
I have planted various peppers, gardenias, and vincas in my garden and yard.
The vincas when first, then the gardenias, and now my peppers. It appears that the plants are being eaten from the bottom up. The gardenias and vincas have the whole leaves missing while the pepper leaves mostly have holes in them. Is this because there are two different problems (or 3 problems) or is it because the pepper leaves are so much bigger? Can anyone tell me what this is? How do I take care of it? Thanks in advance -- Ed |
What's eating my plants?
Here in my neck of the woods, when entire leaves are missing, it's usually
the work of rabbits or groundhogs, although they usually eat the more tender top growth first. With holes in the leaves, my first guess would be slugs. You can check for slugs by going out after dark with a flashlight. Is there any "frass", small brownish/blackish clumps of caterpillar poop, on any the plants? Some types of caterpillars can do a surprising amount of damage. You are taking the correct approach in trying to identify the pest or pests before you attempt treatment. Sue Zone 6, Southcentral PA "Paid2fish" wrote in message m... I have planted various peppers, gardenias, and vincas in my garden and yard. The vincas when first, then the gardenias, and now my peppers. It appears that the plants are being eaten from the bottom up. The gardenias and vincas have the whole leaves missing while the pepper leaves mostly have holes in them. Is this because there are two different problems (or 3 problems) or is it because the pepper leaves are so much bigger? Can anyone tell me what this is? How do I take care of it? Thanks in advance -- Ed |
What's eating my plants?
Thanks for the tip, I went out just now and found dozens of slugs. Is there
an easy way to repel them? Kill them? I would prefer not use a pesticide unless there is no other reasonable option. -- "SugarChile" wrote in message thlink.net... Here in my neck of the woods, when entire leaves are missing, it's usually the work of rabbits or groundhogs, although they usually eat the more tender top growth first. With holes in the leaves, my first guess would be slugs. You can check for slugs by going out after dark with a flashlight. Is there any "frass", small brownish/blackish clumps of caterpillar poop, on any the plants? Some types of caterpillars can do a surprising amount of damage. You are taking the correct approach in trying to identify the pest or pests before you attempt treatment. Sue Zone 6, Southcentral PA "Paid2fish" wrote in message m... I have planted various peppers, gardenias, and vincas in my garden and yard. The vincas when first, then the gardenias, and now my peppers. It appears that the plants are being eaten from the bottom up. The gardenias and vincas have the whole leaves missing while the pepper leaves mostly have holes in them. Is this because there are two different problems (or 3 problems) or is it because the pepper leaves are so much bigger? Can anyone tell me what this is? How do I take care of it? Thanks in advance -- Ed |
What's eating my plants?
On Thu, 05 Jun 2003 02:32:34 GMT, "Paid2fish"
wrote: Thanks for the tip, I went out just now and found dozens of slugs. Is there an easy way to repel them? Kill them? I would prefer not use a pesticide unless there is no other reasonable option. http://www.gardensalive.com has a natural (and harmless, they say) slug killer. http://www.gardensalive.com/item_dis...uctNumber=2111 (in case this doesn't work, the product is called 'Escar-Go!' - just search on 'slug'). I'm using this for the first time this year, so I can't say how well it works or doesn't - I put it out two days ago, as I am experiencing slug damage too (all the rain we've had must encourage them). There's also a product called 'Sluggo' (IIRC), which might be available to you locally. I couldn't find it locally, but we're in a very rural area and the stores aren't as well stocked as they might be. Some people put out saucers of beer and say that the slugs come to drink it, then drown. When I tried this, it didn't work. Maybe I was using the wrong kind of beer! Maybe the slugs prefer imported beer.... :) Pat |
What's eating my plants?
"Paid2fish" wrote in message om...
Thanks for the tip, I went out just now and found dozens of slugs. Is there an easy way to repel them? Kill them? I would prefer not use a pesticide unless there is no other reasonable option. I know this is going to sound crazy, but try beer. A friend suggested it to me years back, and I set a plate of beer out at night, and the next morning I had about 15 dead slugs on the plate. It was so disgusting that I opted to go with the pesticides from then on. Apparently, they like beer and are attracted to it and then drown in the puddle. Again, I have only done this once, but it worked like a charm, assuming you can stomach it. Good luck, Chris |
What's eating my plants?
work. Maybe I was using the wrong kind of beer! Maybe the
slugs prefer imported beer.... :) Is this going to start a "the best beer is: fill in here thread?? I personally prefer Mike's hard Lemoande to beer... email: daveallyn at bwsys dot net please respond in this NG so others can share your wisdom as well! |
What's eating my plants?
I know this is going to sound crazy, but try beer.
The bad thing about beer is that it will also attract slugs and snails from all around your garden but not all of them will stop for a drink. Jack |
What's eating my plants?
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What's eating my plants?
On Mon, 9 Jun 2003 08:07:18 +0000 (UTC), (jane)
wrote in rec.gardens.edible: The Guinness far and away won, dispatching over double the slugs that the milk did. Lager was third and water was last (as it was the control, that's not surprising). You have to wonder how the makers of Guiness view this. -- Gardening Zones Canada Zone 5a United States Zone 3a Near Ottawa, Ontario |
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