Learn 5 common flower and plant pests to look out for this summer, the damage they do, and how to control them in this quick podcast episode.
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Hosta plant leaves showing slug or snail damage.
Today’s Topic:
5 Common Flower and Plant Pests, Their Damage, and How to Control and Prevent Them.
In this podcast, you’ll learn about these 5 common garden pests, what signs of damage they cause, and how to control and prevent them in your garden.
What You’ll Learn:
- 5 common flower and plant pests.
- Each pests common damage signs.
- How to control and prevent them (Sluggo) in your garden.
- Resources and links for more information.
Resources:
Some of the resources and products below may be affiliate links, meaning we might get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
- 5 Natural Pest Remedies (article)
- Garden Pollinators and Their Favorite Flowers – DIY Garden Minute Ep.14 (podcast)
- How to Strategize and Manage Garden Pests Like a Pro (article)
- When to Remove Old Mulch Before Adding New Mulch (video)
- Want to get started, but not sure on what? Go to our Start-Here Page!
5 Common Flower and Plant Pests
You have planted your flowers this spring and for the coming summer months to enjoy, but now their leaves, stems, and even flowers are being eaten and you don’t know what has caused this damage.
Here are 5 common plant and flower pests to watch for this summer, the damage they can cause, and how to prevent and control them in your garden.
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Earwigs –
- Damage: Their damage will look like irregular bites in leaves and flower petals. Although earwigs can help control other pests like aphids and mites, they will also eat part of your plants.
- Control/Prevention: We use Sluggo and we haven’t seen any around our plants since using it.
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Slugs –
- Damage: You won’t only see soft leaf and stem tissue completely eat and gone, but you will also see slime trails where they were and where they could have gone where they eat at night.
- Control/Prevention: We use Sluggo and no damage or trails since we using it. It’s better than what we have used in the past.
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Snails –
- Damage: Very similar to the damage you see from slugs with leaf and stem tissue ravenously eaten overnight.
- Control/Prevention: We use Sluggo and we have the same results as with slug damage.
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Weevils –
- Damage: You will see small bites taken out of leave tissue by these insects, which also feed at night and nest down at the base of plants.
- Control/Prevention: Remove any stems or leaves that are touching the ground so they can’t get direct access to your plants. Make it hard for them to eat and get access to leaves.
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Caterpillars –
- Damage: Similar to the weevil and earwigs, you will see bites or chunks eaten away from plant leaves. They generally eat during the night when they can avoid predators.
- Control/Prevention: If you venture out at night (or day, if there) and see them, physically remove them from your plants.
As we have already called out, Earwigs, slugs, and snails can be easily controlled by using a product called “Sluggo“, which we have used starting this spring and it works great.
Our plants are healthy and have not had any damage like last year where some were being completely eaten down to the ground.
If you aren’t sure where to start learning about garden care, go to our Start Here page at spokengarden.com/start-here .
And, if you have questions about these 5 common garden pests, we are here to help, so please email us.
Thanks for Listening!!!
That’s all for this podcast episode! You can find other beginning gardener topics on our podcast page by clicking here or go to SpokenGarden.com and click on the “Listen” tab. Also find us on your favorite podcast platform and smart speaker!
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