what's eating my buds???!!!
many of the buds on my roses are being devoured and I'm at a loss as to which insect is causing this. These are buds on Griffith Buck 'Folksinger'. Stems are sometimes chewed right through and there are black and brown droppings. I have noticed grasshoppers on my roses. Could this be from them? If so, what to do? I try to use an all organic approach but they are literally eating almost every bud.
I was thinking of even enclosing the buds in a bit of tulle to protect them from these ravenous monsters but I'm not sure if this would be beneficial or detrimental as it could possibly trap the culprit inside and the predators wouldn't be able to get to them.
Any help or suggestions is always appreciated.
Sharon
Comments (14)
cecily
8 years agomichaelg
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What to do with my lily AFTER the deer eat the buds
Comments (2)Let the remaining stem and leaves go dormant just like the rest of you lilies and they will be just fine for next year. In fact, they will be larger and have more flowers than the others--all because they didn't flower this year. Flowering is very stressfull and these now will be able to put all their energy into making a larger bulb for next year....See MoreWhat's eating my honeysuckle buds?
Comments (3)ditto aphids. Get a hose and spray them off the plant to start. Their juices, which you won't see at first, leave black spots later. Crush as many as you can, as often as you can with your fingers. You can plant marigolds at the base but it's better preventative than cure and even then, highly imperfect. If you have the time and it's under 80 degrees for the next week, you can spray the aphids with neem oil+water+castille soap daily until they disappear, but it's hard to cover them if they are inside the bud. It only works if you cover them. If you get lady bugs, make sure they come with their own food, so they will stick around. I know there are people who have honeysuckles without aphids, but I've never met them. If it's a problem, consider adding new type of vine and letting it take over while you phase out honeysuckle....See MoreWhat's Eating my Tulip Buds?
Comments (2)IME deer tend to eat what they remove, while both squirrels and groundhogs tend to leave some of what they have removed behind. You could spray them with something like Deer Off that makes them smell and taste unpleasant. I think it needs to be resprayed after rain, though when I used it on shrubs for the winter, I mixed it with Wiltpruf so that it wouldn't wash off....See MoreWhat is eating into my buds?
Comments (7)From the pic I'm not sure if that's a rose slug or some type of caterpillar? Our curled Rose Slug does munch alittle on buds and I find them inside the petals once in awhile but not often... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How can you tell the difference between a sawfly larva and a caterpillar? Count the prolegs. Caterpillars may have up to five pairs of abdominal prolegs (seeparts of a caterpillar diagram), but never have more than five pairs. Sawfly larvae will have six or more pairs of abdominal prolegs*. Another notable difference, though it requires a closer look, is that caterpillars have tiny hooks called crochets, on the ends of their prolegs. Sawflies don't. Another, less obvious difference between caterpillars and sawfly larvae is the number of eyes. Caterpillars almost always have 12 stemmata, 6 on each side of the head. Sawfly larvae usually have just a single pair of stemmata....See More
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
8 years ago
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI seen this damage here yesterday enchantedrosez6a... (Sorry for being out of focus but bud is chewed in half...) I looked around and only seen these guys nearby...So yes it could be hoppers chewing your buds enchantedrosez6a....
countrygirlsc, Upstate SC
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agomichaelg
8 years ago
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
8 years ago
seil zone 6b MI
8 years agoenchantedrosez5bma
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoAnother hopper shot...I'm just sort of letting them go for now as they only seemed to damage only one bud so far...I'm trying to just ignore it and let nature take its course but I know how frustrating it can be since a lot of your buds were damaged enchantedrosez... Hope you get things figured out enchantedrosez!
altorama Ray
8 years agoenchantedrosez5bma
8 years agoaltorama Ray
8 years ago
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois