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

"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

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

"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