What's eating my plants??

12 years ago

Last week, my beautiful succulents were doing just fine. I went away for a few days, and came back to find something horribly wrong with my Cotyledon, my Lithops, and my Topsy-Turvy - something seems to be eating away at them! I haven't seen any insects of any kind on or about them. I've never seen this on any of my plants before.

I don't have a pic of my Topsy-Turvy, but I posted some shots of my Cotyledon and Lithops online; can someone take a look and tell me what you think it could be? And are my plants doomed?

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Comments (5)

philofan
12 years ago
This looks like snail damage. A hungry snail can eat a lot in one night. Do you see snail tracks? Or any snails hiding under a pot? Sometimes mice or rats will also indulge in succulents.
norma_2006
12 years ago
Put out snail bait they come out at night so you may not see them, Blue Jays may want to get water from the Lithops, I have seen this happen and in the summer my friend and excellent grower had to put a screened box over them. Sqirrels may attack them if water is needed. They usally go for fruit. Grasshppers
are horrid destroyers of
foliage,
I don't know what other insects that you may have where you live. There are also little larva of worms that come from scara (spelling) flies that can wipe out a flat of flats overnight. Butterfly larva can do great damage very fast: like tomato worms etc. now you have many choices. If you see the culpert put it in a zip-lock bag and take it to the local nursery and ask them what safe product you may use. Norma
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chaparralgirl
Original Author
12 years ago
My afflicted plants are all indoors. I think my husband said he saw a mouse in the house the other day - so a mouse might be doing this?

We do get flies now and then, if we leave the door open; we live in the Sonoran Desert, and it's still summer for us right now - our average daytime temperature is around 110-degrees - so our doors don't stay open for very long. When we do get flies, they're the standard house fly. I haven't seen anything unusual or out of the ordinary.

Although... I just had a thought. We do get house geckos at night. By and large they're all outside, but one time I did find one in the house. Do you suppose a gecko could've done this?

Or... Another thought. For a brief period, I was taking my flowering plants (my Topsy-Turvy was one of them) outside in the morning and setting them on the lawn in hopes that pollinators would come along and take an interest. I stopped doing that well over a month ago, but I wonder if maybe I brought something inside...

We also have crickets in the house sometimes.

Man, why didn't I think of all these things when I first posted?
philofan
12 years ago
Mice and rats give themselves away by the droppings. Do you see any near your plants?
chaparralgirl
Original Author
12 years ago
Y'know what? I sure do! I just moved my windowsill collection, and I put out a few pieces of bread & peanut butter to see if we have any takers. I'm also checking out humane trapping & removal methods online. I love mice. Just not in the house. And definitely not eating my plants!