The flour idea is interesting, the sevin caution may be over blown. Personally I'll trust the label for my own eating- just wash the fruit well. I'm cautious enough not to serve recently treated fruit to children. I'm just not sure that it will be carried in quantities back to the nest adequate for the purpose- I also don't think the use is on the label. For strawberries you could use bridal fabric- what is it? Tule? The most interesting thing is how widespread this problem is this year in regions of different weather. Here it doesn't seem there are more wasps than usual but just that they are more destructive. At least I'm getting SOME of my figs although I can't wait for them to reach perfection.

Whether they can or can't crawl back up, new crops of them hatch out all the time. Like aphids, Japanese, Fuller, Curculio and other beetles as well as all other insects which suck or chew the plants, you have to continually battle them during their "season" using whatever methods you've selected. I'm not recommending any method nor attempting to encourage you to go "nuclear" on them, but the less toxic your method, the more interactive you have to be with the control. With more generations regularly hatching from eggs, and more eggs being deposited as long as conditions favor their reproduction, new "slugs" are appearing daily or every few days. So, if you're knocking them off, picking them off or washing them off, you have to be diligent at it. Pick, knock or wash them off daily or every few days as your time, energy and infestation dictate. Or, go with an organic control like the bacterial Spinosad, which knocks down all of the hatched slugs at once for two weeks. That has to be sprayed twice monthly unless it's all washed off by a heavy rain. Yes, it can kill the predators, too, but all "insecticides" will. The point is, you have to determine whether you want to constantly battle them or take stronger measures against them. They not only cause unsightly damage, but ANYTHING which reduces the green leaf area of the rose, inhibits, reduces its ability to feed itself. Reduce the leaf surface area sufficiently and you inhibit the plant's immune system, weaken the plant,by causing it be malnourished, making it more susceptible to other damaging factors such as fungal attacks and potential freeze damage in winter, if that is a possibility where you live. Kim

The most common "eater" of rose leaves in California is the Bristly Rose Slug, the larvae of the Rose Sawfly. The sawfly is a pudgy little wasp. It lays its eggs on the UNDERSIDES of the leaves and the caterpillars feed on the UNDERSIDES of the leaves. The rose slug is tiny, no more than 1/4-inch long and very slender, and it's the exact same pale green as the undersides of the leaves. Talk about hard to see and find! It's the critter that "skelotinizes" rose leaves. It's pretty easy to get rid of, actually. Almost any good spray will do the job: insecticidal soap, Neem, pyrethrum. The trick is to spray thoroughly UNDER the leaves. Not stand back and spray all over. You have to get UNDER the leaves. By the way, a commonly suggested spray for rose sawfly is BT. It doesn't work. It doesn't work because it's meant for the caterpillars of moths and butterflies. The rose slug is the larvae of a wasp. And I'm not sure of any beneficial insect that preys upon it. As for your rose buds, Applenut has a good idea. Go outside late at night with a flashlight. The critter most likely is an earwig, sowbug or pillbug. It also might be a slug or snail. Joe

Gary, I was wrong, 4 of my rose bands didn't grow have soil issues, they're not the same as yours. I pull out one today which was planted next to a pine tree, I was hoping it can climb on the tree and be the center of one rose garden. It had white stuff all over the roots, not sure what was, I took a photo. The soil next to the pine tree is not good, I bought a bag garden soil today, will pick up another bag tomorrow just for the four roses close to the pnie trees. I aways add some manue (Lowe's) to every rose in the spring. I have a "working horse" to carry all the garden soil/ manueI, you'll see. :-) All the troubled rose bands are in pots now, hope they will grow in the potting soil. Good luck with yours.