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What's eating my dahlia stems?
vetty22
Posts: 2
I've just been out this morning and a previously healthy dahlia plant is being attacked by something. The stems are broken and chewed and the plant is covered in ants.
Any ideas??
0
Posts
Possibly aphids. The two often go hand in hand.
And slugs and snails too
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Right ok so does that mean the ants have eaten the aphids? Or do I still need to treat with something?
Ants farm aphids for the honeydew they produce. If it is aphids, you will still see them on the plant. You don't need to grab RoseClear or any other poison. Just wash them off with water or wipe them with your hands. There is no such thing as an insecticide that just kills the "bad" bugs. They also harm bees, butterflies, hoverflies, ladybirds and their larvae and other things we enjoy having in our garden. Aphids won't usually eat the plant, just drain the sap so I would guess slugs/snails but you may have aphids as well and hence the ants.
if you stop the indiscriminate killing of insects in your garden the beneficial insects and birds will be able to remove the aphids one by one for you.
We enjoyed watching bluetits harvesting aphids from our roses and now there are none left. There will be another crop of them of course but they will provide good for the ladybird larvae.
That really is the way to deal with aphids if you're a busy gardener :-)
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Or give them a blast with the water hose ! That works for me and then leave them to the birds no need for spraying with pesticides as was said in a former comment pesticides kill benaficail insects ?
Hose or hand for me too, but Dove's right - get birds in your garden and they'll do the job for you.They love my clematis. Slugs and snails are likely to be eating your plants too. The joys of gardening! I have virtually no greenfly/aphids of any kind. I try to steer clear of plants which are really susceptible, which helps, but I realise that people want to grow particular plants and it can be a big issue.
If you suddenly get a big infestation - usually when the weather warms up, there's some rain and therefore new, soft growth, you can use the hose to clear the worst of them initially. After that, blue tits, in particular, will pick them off as they feed their young.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...