Good Morning Everyone, A few weeks I planted 4 Dahlia bulbs, they are doing well and have grown to about 5 inches. I have not checked them in a few days and when I went out this morning I found that they have lots of small round holes chewed in the leaves. What can I put on them that will not hurt the plant, but will stop whatever is chewing on them? Thank you for any help. Have a great day and enjoy this beautiful weather.
Have you looked closely at the leaves? If you see tiny hopping black insects (and I do mean tiny) they are likely to be flea beetles. Using a yellow sticky trap will catch them. Here is a link with a photo: http://flowers.about.com/od/Pests-And-Diseases/fl/Flea-Beetle-Pests-in-Flower-Gardens.htm It recommends a row cover. This has worked for my veggies in the garden, but who wants to put a row cover over their flowers?
Earwigs destroyed my 2 giant zinnias like that. My husband bought me a box of earwig ,sowbug bait that I'm going out to sprinkle right now!
Thanks for including that photo Richie. It does not look to me like flea beetle damage. Maybe slugs? Your best bet is to watch your plants & see if you can catch the critter red-handed. The other thing to look at is if the damage is ongoing or past, with any luck, the culprit has feasted & moved on. Strats-- I am not familiar with earwig damage.
Not flea beetles. I agree maybe pill bugs. I suggest dusting them with a sevin dust or even just a diatomecious earth dust (red lake brand at the farm/feed store for dusting animals) may even help and put some of it on the ground around the plant.
Every year i have the same problem with my Dahlia plants,..snails and slugs love the taste of a Dahlia Leaf,..anything that will kill them off works,..as for my case i use a Spray Bottle with my usual mix of Neem Oil and Liquid Soap,..one Table Spoon of each works,..if you have many Dhalia Plants then using the Neem oil can be expensive so the alternative is Slug Clear in a liquid form,..a 250ml bottle will provide 75 Litres,..that's 17 1 Gallon Watering Cans,..on a smaller scale you can use a 2 Pint Spray Bottle,.."Warning",..not for crops,..keep away from Children and Pets while in use.
