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Slug damage

7 years ago

Hello, i need help, i recieved petunias a moth ago, they were beautiful, blooming, and then started to die out due to slugs that came with it. I got rid of them, but now i have damaged plant. As i placed them to hang from ceiling, i didn't see damage straight away, and now I'm wondering is there a salvation for this petunias or should i give up? It still blooms, but flowers die out quickly and green parts are partly dry and wilted.

Featured Answer

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

7 years ago

if it were me.. i would just get rid of it.. because it would bum me out.. every time i looked at it ... you can try cutting it back to 3 inches or so .. and see what happens as an experiment ...

on the stem with the flower.. i see what looks like hundreds of seed pods ... it may be too far into seeding.. to get it back into vigorous growth ...

ken

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
need a pic to opine ...

if the hanging basket.. if i understand properly.. dries too fast.. then its a media/water management problem ...

also.. how did you get rid of the slugs .. perhaps you burned the leaves ...

Ps can take a very hard cut back .. look for small buds down near the terminus of the plant ... and PERHAPS start cutting back some of the old long pieces .... this will reduce water needs for a while ... you can do it all at once.. and have a rather ugly plant.. of do one every few days ... so you still have something to look at ...

but thats all guessing without a pic...

ken
Milena Popovic
Original Author
7 years ago

This is how it looks now. replaced it so i could monitor it. After traps and removing them by hand i had to buy some poisonous pellets, but it didn't came in contact with plant, and it dried out beause of slugs. Now that slugs are gone i have half eaten and sad looking plant, and i wonder if it can be saved. There is a photo. No problem with wathering as other petunias grow and bloom great.
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I agree with peren.all---cutworm or caterpillar. The first hosta garden I was ever invited to was absolutely filled with lovely hosta! The owner said she had cutworm in a certain spot in her garden. That was the first I was ever aware of the damage cutworms could do. She said she would dig just under the soil especially near the crowns of hosta to find them. And I have. This year my slug population is down. Hurray! But then we have had huge populations of caterpillars this year. I am finding large holes in my hostas! (Just like the photos shown.) If it's not one thing, then it's another! Slug bait isn't going to reduce caterpillar damage. Only some types of slug bait work on cutworms. Sorry that you have experienced all that damage Steve.
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Laurie (8A)
7 years ago
I agree with Ken 100%
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
7 years ago
Milena - I live in slug paradise and I've never known any type of slug pellets 'burn' a plant, nor have I ever known a plant to 'dry out' becasue of slugs. Is the id of the pest absolutely certain? Like Ken, I also notice lots of seed pods on your plants so I would suggest cutting them right back. I'm also wondering about the state of the roots.
Milena Popovic
Original Author
7 years ago
Small gray slugs, for sure, at first i removed them by hand, so i had a good look at them. I guess they ate the roots as well, so the plant started dying. They were there there for a while, so they had time to eat all they want. I am noticing seed pots just now as i did cut back, leaving a few healthiest looking steams, so if it starts recovering, great, if it doesn't I'll get rid of it, sadly. Thank you all for your help.
zen_man
7 years ago
It's just an idea, but you can propagate petunias from cuttings. You would need to exclude slugs from that process, though.

Incidentally, the product named Sluggo is a good safe control for slugs. Its active ingredient is iron phosphate, and whatever the slugs don't eat, the plants can, because plants use both iron and phosphorous.

ZM (not associated with any product mentioned)

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