Thursday, October 24, 2013

Dahlia Disappointment

This is the second of my dahlias to go from looking very healthy one day to being gone the next. The first one lost all its leaves, and I assumed snails had got to it. I sprinkled some iron phosphate snail bait around to protect the remaining ones, but today a second dahlia has bitten the dust. This one has had the stem chewed through, but the leaves are untouched. Is this normal for snails or slugs? Or is something else the culprit?

3 comments:

Dee said...

Might be earwigs. Roll up some damp newspaper or corrugated cardboard and place in it the area. Each morning check for earwigs and dispose of in garbage. Repeat.

mitchez2013 said...

May be something 4-legged with generous incisors looking for something sweet near the roots.

Vireya said...

Thanks, Dee, I'l give that a go and see what turns up. I've also had the suggestion that it may be cutworms. More investigation required!