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I have about 30 varieties of hostas and am familiar with slugs, grubs etc. But now I have observed small holes in the entire leaves. Anybody familliar with this? what to do? ritagaw
Could be a number of grubs/insects etc, if you cant find any in daytime, then try go out just before dark and see if you can find what's eating them, that way, it will be easier to treat for the right insect, slugs do sometimes eat the middle of the leaves and as you search at evening, remember to check behind/under the leaves as this is the common hiding place for leaf eaters, there are several traps you can use if you dont want to use chemicals depending what it is you need to trap, good luck. WeeNel.
i just planted hostas a week ago and also have little holes-- but what stumps me more is that i come out in the morning and a small place next to the plant is burrowed into--the first time i thought it was when i watered and the force of the hose--but now with the rain (i live in texas) it still happens--one morning i saw a small bunny hopping across my yard so i think it could be a bunny eating them but i wouldn't think it would make holes--or could the bunny be eating the bugs that come out to eat the plant? but i don't think rabbits eat bugs--i also found a small rat in the yard once--i think rats might eat bugs but not sure
Hi Linda, you are getting confused with all that is going on in your garden, Rabbits will eat green and some roots of plants hence the burrowing that is going on, Rats will eat anything from grubs, food scraps and anything from your compost, plus wooden structures to find a warm dry place to hide/nest and even plastic or brick if they fancy a harder entrance to nest, holes in your leaves is deffinately an insect/slug or snail, personally I would worry more about the rat than anything else as these also carry deseases, can kill a small bunny and multiply just as fast as the bunny population, so keep an eye out for these and deal with them as fast as you can. As for the bunnies, these can strip a veg patch in an hour if they like what you are growing, but they wont put small holes in your leaves, they will gnaw the whole leaf or cut it off and eat the bits it fancies, slugs, snails, earwigs with the pinsers on the tail end, and some other insects will eat holes in the leaves so the best thing to do is try get sight of what it is that is doing this, then you will be able to treat the problem, it aint easy and will take you a few days or evenings to find what it is, only then will you be able to cure the problems as there are all different ways to deal with the different bugs, hope this helps you a bit and good luck. WeeNel.
Also, the holes in the ground could be from frogs. I think they dig deeper in the ground when its dry, and then when it rains(or you water) they jump out leaving holes. I just figured this out not too long ago when I was watering and a frog popped out of the ground because I was drowning him. I've noticed similar holes around since then.
you may have a bunny house too. Gently check. If you see lots of bunny hair (Not hare-LOL) It is a nest. the mommy pulls out her hair to line the nest to keep her babies warm.
SOOoo cute,too!
I was in the garden yesterday, and have a major problem with earwigs! They are everywhere and doing some serious damage to my lilies and clematis.
I sprayed with some bug spray but doesn't seem to phase them, even though it said it would on the label :(
I'll have to go get something soon...
Can't believe the damage they have done and so quickly.
A neighbor told me to put a lid with vegetable oil in it, it attracks them and they drown. It's worth a try.
Little buggers
Hi flowerprincess, the way I tackle earwigs as they like roses, as well as many other flowering plants is, stick a garden cane in the soil, some shreaded newspaper or straw into a plantpot and sit this upside down onto the garden cane beside the plants being eaten, they go into the pot in the morning as they are night feeders, then each morning go out with a bucket of boiling water and drop the earwigs into it, replace the pot onto the cane for more murder the next morning, OR, instead of drowning them in the boiling water, set fire to the straw/paper inside a container, still murder, but it works and is satisfying all at the same time, no chemical sprays required. Good Luck and happy hunting. WeeNel.
thank you for all your help with the hosta garden mysteries! bunnies, rats, bugs etc I have a lot to work on now!! i also have 3 big box turtles who live in the yard--i know they like plants too but i never see them in this area of the yard--they have lived in our yard for the last 10 or so years and just do their own thing--
Flowerprincess, no prob, gal gota do what a gal gota do, I love all animals by the way, just not in the wrong place, that wrong place is my garden, Now if you want to come help me file down the antlers on a little buck deer that is stripping my shrubs and young trees by rubbing the velvel off his antlers, that would be a big help, I dont like hunting and my grandkids think Santa drops the deer off here so I can look after them till he calls for them again on Christmas eve, so you understand my dilemma, Oh why did I lie to my darling grandkids in the first place, they write to Santa each year and tell him what a great job granny is doing, whereas I really want to write and ask Santa if he has a four wheel drive yet. Oh well, looks like I am going to have to be up the crack of dawn again tomorrow to yell at the deer again, trouble is, they get used to all that also, so they start to ignore me. husband say's it is like watching Yoggy Bear and Mr Ranger when the deer an I go at it to see who wins, usually the deer. Good luck with your earwig infestation, these are real pest in the garden, just as sneeky as the deer. Weenel.
