A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Potentilla Flower Petals being eaten

Hi,

My potentilla flower petals have large bites out of them. The potentilla leaves are not being touched at all. I tried a houseplant insecticide on the plant thinking perhaps aphids, but the edges of the leaves have now turned brown and my flowers are still being chomped to the point they are all raggedy looking. Before I completely kill this shrub by trial and error , I am hoping someone can help me out. I did find spittle bugs on the stems, but the houseplant insecticide seemed to solve this. I cant see any other bugs at all....at a loss.

Big bites often mean snails or slugs in my garden. Any signs of these pests? Try putting a beer trap out overnight to see if you get any dead ones in the morning. Then you will have a clue on how to proceed. Snail/slug prevention is different than other insect prevention.

thanks ! - I will try a slug trap. I have taken to going out there every hour to see if I can see anything in the day and I cant see anything other than flying insects collecting the nectar/pollen. I even ran out there after a rain/hail storm to see if perhaps the petals were fragile and the rain was puncturing them - but there was no damage from that. I think you must be right because they are not multiple little nibbles, they are big chomps out of the petals, but oddly, the foliage is not being touched.

Off to raid my husbands beer supply - shhh :-)

Thanks again!