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Can this aralia sun king be saved?

gumneck 7A Virginia

last year

I planted these two aralia in early June. They were doing ok until the slugs -i think- got to them. I have dug them up and potted them to try to nurse them back. Could not tell from the roots - the looked more brown than whitish. Can they come back from this type damage? I should have noticed sooner.

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
as long as the plant stays green.. it can process light into energy ... no matter how ugly the leaves look ...

in nature.. it is not uncommon for some plague to roll thru..and devastate certain plants.. and if otherwise healthy .. most plants can and do recover ... and usually bugs dont kill their host outright.. or it would be a form of suicide ...

check your pots at night.. to make sure you didnt move slugs with them..

keep in bright full shade ...

plant in early fall..when the temps start dropping overnight ...

ken
gumneck 7A Virginia thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
mxk3 z5b_MI
last year
I think so. Keep the pots sufficiently watered, but not over-watered, and put in part-shade location. If you're sure it's slugs, I'd sprinkle Sluggo in the pot and around the outside of the pot. Better yet, I'd re-pot into 100% fresh potting soil, making sure you get most of the soil off the roots to ensure there are no beasties in there anywhere, and then wrap the entire pot with a light shading fabric -- tulle is cheap and works great, or you can buy a roll of insect netting.
gumneck 7A Virginia thanked mxk3 z5b_MI
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gumneck 7A Virginia
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the responses. I dropped some slug pellets in the pot today but did not check the soil or roots for bugs Will do that. Amazing that none of the nearby plants - bigroot geranium, hellebores, hydrangea, aster— had any noticeable damage and these looked so bad. I don't know for sure it’s slugs but from what I’ve read these plants are susceptible to slugs, mealy bugs, aphids.

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