Bugs! Please help
Bugs are munching their way through my basil. How can I stop this? They're also munching their way through the rhubarb leaves. Something attacked my parsley last night - stripped everything down to the long stems, clean as a whistle. Thoughts, anyone? Can someone help, please? Dora -- limey at toad dot net |
Bugs! Please help
"limey" wrote in message ... Bugs are munching their way through my basil. How can I stop this? They're also munching their way through the rhubarb leaves. Something attacked my parsley last night - stripped everything down to the long stems, clean as a whistle. Thoughts, anyone? Can someone help, please? Dora Have you considered the possibility that your pest has four legs rather than six? Insects tend to be somewhat plant specific, so it is unlikely that one pest is eating basil, rhubarb and parsley. Japanese beetles are an exception and will eat just about anything. These beetles aren't shy and tend to start at the top of the plant, so you should be able to see them readily. However, insects don't eat the entire leaf, leaving nothing. They will eat holes or strip down to the ribs of the leaf. My leading candidate is rabbits. My only caveat is that I have all three of the plants you mention and plenty of rabbits and no damage so far. Parsley is subject to the larvae of the monarch butterfly, a striped caterpillar. If rabbits are your problem, I suggest a cat or a fence. Guy Bradley Chesterfield MO zone 6 |
Bugs! Please help
Parsley is subject to the larvae of the monarch butterfly, a striped caterpillar. Just to be a bit nit-picky--monarch butterfly larvae feed almost exclusively on plants in the milkweed family. The striped caterpillar commonly seem on parsley (and dill) is the larvae of swallowtail butterflies. My solution is to just plant extra parsley. I appreciate having the butterflies around! Cheers, Sue -- Zone 6, South-central PA |
Bugs! Please help
"Guy Bradley" wrote "limey" wrote Bugs are munching their way through my basil. How can I stop this? They're also munching their way through the rhubarb leaves. Something attacked my parsley last night - stripped everything down to the long stems, clean as a whistle. Thoughts, anyone? Can someone help, please? Dora Have you considered the possibility that your pest has four legs rather than six? Insects tend to be somewhat plant specific, so it is unlikely that one pest is eating basil, rhubarb and parsley. Japanese beetles are an exception and will eat just about anything. These beetles aren't shy and tend to start at the top of the plant, so you should be able to see them readily. However, insects don't eat the entire leaf, leaving nothing. They will eat holes or strip down to the ribs of the leaf. My leading candidate is rabbits. My only caveat is that I have all three of the plants you mention and plenty of rabbits and no damage so far. Parsley is subject to the larvae of the monarch butterfly, a striped caterpillar. If rabbits are your problem, I suggest a cat or a fence. Yes, I've considered four-legged critters. We've loads of squirrels, but they seem to swipe the peaches and apples, then tomatoes if they're desperate. I don't think they've bothered these plants. Ditto the rabbits, who seem to be happy eating the clover. I don't think it's aphids on the basil - there are no signs of them on the stems or undersides of the leaves. The rhubarb - I don't know - the holes get bigger and some of the leaves are down to the ribs. I have recently read that deer love parsley - and we're overrun with deer. Sometimes, I think I'd like a little less wildlife. :-( Dora |
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