Finding holes in your leaves or are you missing the top of a stem that was there yesterday?
Here is an example of damage from a pesky slug that climbed up over the rim of a large foam pot to devour a seedling the other day. Deer may nip off a bud here and there but due to its location, Bambie couldn't have nipped this lily even if she did sneak past the pack of coyotes currently patrolling our back field for rodents. If you see any similar damage check under the pot to see if a mollusk has taken up residence and very promptly, physically remove it from your garden and spread fresh slug bait.
Here is an example of damage from a pesky slug that climbed up over the rim of a large foam pot to devour a seedling the other day. Deer may nip off a bud here and there but due to its location, Bambie couldn't have nipped this lily even if she did sneak past the pack of coyotes currently patrolling our back field for rodents. If you see any similar damage check under the pot to see if a mollusk has taken up residence and very promptly, physically remove it from your garden and spread fresh slug bait.
This lily will come up again next season and might flower, but the top where the bud used to be is gone, neatly chewed off so any potential bloom is lost for this year. To add insult to injury, it most likely nibbled on two leaves the night before consuming the bud. Just when you think slugs and snails are not issues during the summer; consider them to be hiding in any moist crevice during the day. Moral is, don’t let up on maintenance and don’t let your guard down.
We have a tunneling worm(pale and gross-don't know what it is). You don't know a stem has one till the stalk keels over. Most of the stem is lost so it takes years to recover. Sometimes they're still in the stem, then VENGANCE IS MINE!
ReplyDeleteHi Val, that sounds like a stem borer, they will attack old stems and you can check the stems near the base for holes. If you see one, then dig in there with a paper clip to extract the beast and you should save the stems if it hadn't completely dug out the center. Seems like I did something on this subject for a newsletter a few years back but I'm at a show and don't have access to the materials. Try a web search for Stem Borer. -Dianna
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