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Pedals of flowers being eaten by bug?
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Posted by DEBRAWILLIAMS 7Long Island (My Page) on Tue, Jul 26, 05 at 13:13
| I have had a persistent problem with the pedal of flowers being eaten before the flower even opens, in particular, coneflowers. I love these flowers, but pulled them all out because they would open "naked". I have tried spraying seven, malathion, and even the systemic every six weeks, but nothing seems to really work. Anyone on Long Island have this problem. Any solutions? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pedals of flowers being eaten by bug?
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| Debra, could it be slugs? Check at night to see if they're on your flowers. Voracious beasts. If it is slugs, you can trap them in little dishes of beer sunk into the soil around the bases of the plants. Yucky but fairly effective. :) Good luck. Best,
Jen |
RE: Pedals of flowers being eaten by bug?
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| debra, first, i would like to suggest that if you don't know what the pest is, please don't use all those poisons. obviously, you are putting a lot of good things at risk without taking care of your problem. In the past, I had a real problem with earwigs eating petals at night. No one believed me that these guys were eating my flowers. But I figured out the problem by going out at night and catching them in the act with a flashlight. Definitely figure out what the problem is first before going to battle. good luck |
RE: Pedals of flowers being eaten by bug?
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| Actually, I am pretty certain the culprit are earwigs, since I can see them all over my garden and on many of my plants. Now, what should I use to get rid of them? |
RE: Pedals of flowers being eaten by bug?
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| I went out at night with a flashlight and a bucket of water. They would be all over the flowers. Easier to get them there than on the ground. Simply knocked them into the bucket a few nights in a row and eventually got enough of them to solve the problem. Now I have chickens and don't seem to have an earwig problem anymore. But that's another story. |
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