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What's eating my Helleborus?
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Posted by woodenzoo z6 OH (My Page) on Sat, Apr 8, 06 at 13:55
I planted 3 royal heritage helleborus this past fall, and they have suffered from insufficent watering... some brown leaves and still quite small. (Let's just say, they do look worse now then when I first got them.)
Anyway, something is eating the new leaves. When I go to check on them all that is left is the stem up to where the new leaves had been. Could it be cutworms? What should I do?
Any suggestions or other ideas for what may be getting to my plants and what to do about it?
Thanks!
Cathy |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: What's eating my Helleborus?
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- Posted by morz8 Z8 Wa coast (My Page) on
Sat, Apr 8, 06 at 21:41
| Possibly, we have the climbing type cutworm here that eats leaves and not just young seedlings. But it could also be mice, slugs, snails, weevils. Best way to find out and target the correct pest is to go out at night with a flashlight and look. |
RE: What's eating my Helleborus?
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| Slugs or snails sometimes nibble on young leaves, but the only times I have lost entire leaf blades as you describe, it was from deer. They sometimes eat the very young leaves, but as the leaves age, I generally find the bitten off sections nearby where the deer spit them out. George |
RE: What's eating my Helleborus?
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Thank you for the responses.
I'll try the 'at night with a flashlight' to see if I see anything.
I doubt that it's deer, as we are pretty much 'in the city' and have only seen deer near here once in the 8 years we have lived here. lol But boy wouldn't that be a hoot to see a deer in the flashlight!
What about squirrels? Have loads of them and I caught one chewing the bark off the hugh maple tree...
Cathy |
RE: What's eating my Helleborus?
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| A rabbit did that to several of mine. They sent up new leaves but I'm still trying to trap the varmint. My pooch gave him a run for his money and he may have decided this is not a safe neighborhood - I hope! |
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