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Lobellia cannibalised by unknown assailants

UnionworkerukUnionworkeruk Posts: 187
in Plants
I have just two Lobellias (Queen Victoria) tucked in a corner. Both have been stripped broken and eaten over two nights. One each night. I staked a few sticks around them to keep pradators out but whatever seems to have still got through   No other plants in the garden have been touched. I do get lots of neighbouring cats and the occasional fox but which has the taste for Lobellias and how can I stop them ?  

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Slugs love Lobelia cardinalis.   I have had to resort to walking round the garden at night with a torch, and  hand picking off all the slugs and snails and putting them in a container with salt.
  • UnionworkerukUnionworkeruk Posts: 187
    As you can see they have stripped them. Very industrious slugs, Each plant had about six stems All gone in one night each.  I will be looking for some huge slugs with a huge torch in case they fight back.  Thanks for the information and advice   
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Doesn't take slugs long to decimate them . I gave up on them very quickly when I started gardening many decades ago, because the slugs are too vigorous here to make it worthwhile.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • UnionworkerukUnionworkeruk Posts: 187
    Think I might join you with that 
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    With all the rain the slugs here are enormous. The snails I picked off the bean canes, two or three per cane, having a shagfest as they went.  3Litres of molluscs later, I hope I have reduced them down a bit.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I just felt there were other plants that could give me the benefits without the grief!
    There's lots of plants that I'd like to have, but they're slug magnets, and I can't be bothered with it. It becomes pointless after a while. 
    The small ones are often the worst offenders @Unionworkeruk - although we always tend to think it's the big ones that will be the real culprits. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • UnionworkerukUnionworkeruk Posts: 187
    I seem to be lucky. Apart from Hosta leave being chewed it seems the Lobelias are the first I have had to be gnawed to death overnight. I like black plants and  am now trying Strobilanthes which seem to be OK. 
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    edited July 2023
    Two nights ago I picked 31 slugs and snails off a pot of lobelia Crystal Palace. Further up the garden the Lobelia cardinalis was unscathed. The reason, I think, was the slugs and snails have been too busy feasting on the dahlias alongside. So maybe sacrificial plants might be the way to go - but opt for something cheap like a lettuce and not expensive dahlias. 

    @Fairygirl, my 31 slugs and snails were not demure little things sneaking out of crevices, they were huge plump lads making a show of themselves.
    Rutland, England
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