What’s eating my plants?

Nancy
by Nancy

I started seeing these holes in some of my plants, but I don’t see bugs, my husband thinks it’s slugs, can you help?

  3 answers
  • William William on Jun 09, 2019

    Sink a few bowls or plates in the ground level with the surface. Fill the bowls/plates with (cheap) beer. The yeast attracts the slugs. They drink their fill and drown. Not their sorrows


    Anything you can make it uncomfortable for the slugs/snails to crawl on will deter them. A combination of solutions from everyone here should take care of them.


    Broken nutshells work in the same way as egg shells when getting rid of slugs. Break up the nutshells into small pieces, and create a protective barrier around your plants. Any slugs that come near your vegetables will soon turn the other way.


    Crushed egg shells work as a great home remedy of slugs. This is because slugs don’t like moving across sharp objects, although it isn’t not impossible for them to do, they just prefer not to. Break up the empty egg shells into small(ish) pieces and place around the flowers, plants, vegetables, and fruits you want to keep safe from slug damage.


    Ash and Cinders make a rough protective barrier, and the fine ash also acts as a desiccant that dries the slug out. Wood ash and cinders are preferable. Avoid direct contact with plants.


    Grit and Gravel. The sharp rasping edges of finely crushed ‘horticultural grit’ makes an excellent slug barrier. Coarser gravel is largely ineffective, other than for decorative purposes.


    Sandpaper. Cut rings of sandpaper and slip them round the stems of vulnerable plants.


    Sawdust makes a good coarse barrier around tender plants, also acting as a desiccant that dries the slug out. Hardwood sawdust is most effective, and some people recommend cedar or oak.


    Copper Rings or Discs. Solid copper rings/discs of various diameter, used to encircle single or small groups of plants to inflict a mild electric shock on the unsuspecting slug. Look for rings that clip together. These are easy to slip round established plant stems, or join together to form a larger barrier.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Jun 10, 2019

    Slugs and snails like areas that are moist and shady and eat irregular-shaped holes in the leaf (but not along the edges). To see of snails and slugs are your plant-eating culprits, come out at night with a flashlight and look under leaves. Pour beer in a used, open tuna tin or plate to attract slugs and snails away from plants and into the beer. Slugs and snails often leave shiny trail on leaves and the holes are larger than a pencil eraser but smaller than a quarter. Slugs will also eat ripening fruit touching the ground. If you have a bad infestation, use Dr. T’s Slug and Snail Killer for quick results that won’t harm other beneficial insects. https://www.saferbrand.com/articles/whats-eating-plants

  • Shirley Hearn Shirley Hearn on Jun 10, 2019

    It looks like the work of army worms to me. I have been fighting them on most of my flowers and especially my garden. They are usually on the underside of the leaves. They start out quite small so you might have a hard time seeing them but as they munch on your prized plants they get larger. This is what I use and it works https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ANT611U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.