So is it rabbits biting tops/leaves or??

11 years ago

So, in reading other posts I am still unsure- rabbits? slugs?? No deer around here. I do see alot of rabbits in our front/back yard, but never catch them at my plants. First, it was my emerging Hostas that were victim. Large leaves bitten down to half size. I planted some Empress Wu this year- advanced starter size, and one of them is down to 2 leaves left. Now I've noticed my Dutchmasters lilies (qvc varity bulbs) which were starting to come up, have become prey. They range in height from say, 2 inches to 3-4 inches in height, as they are just coming up and getting taller. I noticed that on some, the tops looked as though they were snapped off, and the leaves bitten around the stem. There are no tops left on the ground, they are just gone, so I figure something's eating them. They are too small to have buds yet, but now I wonder, is that it? Are those that have the top growth bitten off done / will they now not grow anymore?

Since there are so many rabbits around, and no deer, I assume that's the culprit. I just ordered something called "Havaheart" spray, but it won't get here for days, and this seems to get worse by the day. Can someone give me advice as to how to protect the plants-short of fencing, as I have alot of these flowers spread out in front and back. I also wonder if there is some way to save these bitten emerging lilies, or are they now just going to die or stop growing?

Clearly I am not an experienced gardener, but have been planting with great success for the past 3 years and I love doing it. This has never happened before, and it's heartbreaking to see every day. I also use Bill's Spray n Grow and Cottage Farms Bud booster packs (have used with success since I began gardening) I hope that won't interact with the rabbit repellant spSorry for the length here, and thank you so much for any help! If I can get my camera working or maybe I'll use cell to take photos, too. Thanks again.

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Comments (7)

jenraider72
Original Author
11 years ago
here are the camera pics (sorry) if I can find the image upload section...not looking good, probably no pictures, I'm going to hit submit and see if it asks me then, I've hit preview 3 times, and I don't see anything but a place to add a link???
jenraider72
Original Author
11 years ago
Sorry,sorry...I figured it out, but it doesn't matter anyway because all the picture files are way over the file size limit.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
check out the link

Here is a link that might be useful: how to post pix
jenraider72
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Paul!
Pretty much just the lilies and the Hosta were victim in this way, now my Hollyhock is holy as well(bugs?) That's not pictured, but I did notice what appear to be trails-(slime?) so I thought can it be slugs messing with the Hollyhock? There was some bite damage to one leaf of the HH as well as the holes. The HH are about 5 inches tall-maybe more. There are no trails on the lilies and hosta, but can it be I just have a few different types of animals/insects that are the problem? thanks all

Here is a link that might be useful: photobucket
jenraider72
Original Author
11 years ago
Oops, and thanks to you for directing me to the link, Ken adrian
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
in your PB acct.. point at the pic you want to insert.. something will pop up.. point at the HTML code.. right click .. it will say copied ..

paste it right here where you type.. when you hit preview.. if you see it.. we will..

and then lets discuss it pic by pic.. i am not really going to flip thru 12 or 15 pix..

we will get you there.. just keep plugging away ...

the first pic is a conifer.. so i dont know why you are talking about hosta.. i am sooo confused .. lol

ken
jenraider72
Original Author
11 years ago
Sorry, thought i had the sub-folder, here's a good example. I came home today and found one of the last remaining lilies, out of 25, was also bitten down between yesterday evening and this afternoon. also heartbroken to see that "they" are now eating my calla lilies as well. I had a 8-10 inch tall one next to this latest Dutch lily victim - it had just recently unfirled into a leaf and now it too and the other calla growth with it are all bitten down to half size. The Dutch was also quite tall. I had thought once it reached a certain point, they were leaving them alone, but I guess I was wrong. I bought "Havaheart" spray, but am unsure if it is a good time to spray it as the directions mention not to do so during bud bloom or it may hurt the plant. I can't believe I planted all those lilies with such excitement and now none are going to even bloom.