0 comments. Update: This plant is in a pot. I have taken slug precautions, but the stripping continues and all three main leaves are now collapsed. Stalk borers and cut worms eat through the stems and stalks of the plant. They have had no pest problems until the past week. You could also build a scarecrow but some birds can be very smart and ignore that. Insect galls come in many different shapes and sizes. Jun 6, 2010 #1 I tied down my plant which put pressure on where the branches meet the main stem, and thats where the ants keep setting up shop and eating the fuck outa my plant! Hi, My cucumber plants are dying, the stem is either splitting open or something is eating it. Normally I just have to do it once. 1 of 3. Beets are a flexible and easy-to-grow cool weather crop that are lovely enough to even serve as edible landscaping. Also she never vomits anything. I have seen reports elsewhere about slugs eating the leaves, but in our case something is stripping the stems specifically. What's eating my plants? Inspect your plants for hornworms now before they strip it down to bare stems. If the stem was totally severed at or below ground level but the plant top is lying on the ground, just replant the top. Wild edible stems, like their domestic relatives, are usually only good when young and growing. IDENTIFYING HORNWORMS Determine the type of pest that is eating your indoor plants in order to take the right control measures. Termites eating my garden! My sunflower plants are doing beautifully and are almost ready to flower. When they don’t get any other food source, the birds can peck at the stems and damage them. 757-247-4781 | May 30, 2007 at 3:00 AM . They will suck the sap and weaken the plant but not chew the leaves as in the second picture. WHAT is eating the stems of my plants? However, something is eating this new plant - mainly the stems. You walk into the garden and suddenly notice that part of your tomato plant has disappeared. They sit there inside the stems, like a chunky little kid stuck in a pipe at a water park, blocking all of the water and nutrients from getting past their thick little selves to the rest of the plant until the whole plant finally keels over and dies. Deer. Hmmmm. I use toilet paper tubes to encase the stems of my newly planted tomatoes to keep cut-worms from eating through the stems when plants are young. Share this article on social media. Wind. Rabbit. However, something is eating this new plant - mainly the stems. Use a ready-to-use insecticidal soap spray on each infested leaf or plant part. Share. I have seen reports elsewhere about slugs eating the leaves, but in our case something is stripping the stems specifically. Many of these also require preparation (as do many domestic plants, such as the potato), so it is wise to read up on the plant before experimenting with eating it. They lay eggs in plant leaves or stems with a saw-like ovipositor. share. I often see her eating young leaves and stems of flowering plants in garden. And that orange sawdust I touched when I first noticed the issue? Plant-eating insects may cause galls to form, usually as a way of protection for young insects. So something is eating holes in plant leaves. A quick sprinkling over and around the plants is very effective. I planted morning glories outside at about 3 inches tall that had been starting from seed indoors. Cooley spruce bud adelgids cause a spikey gall on white spruce’s shoot tips. It might be worth carrying out a post mortem and looking inside the stem for more signs of damage or rot. Do you sometimes go out in the morning to find pieces of your plants have disappeared overnight? I now am noticing the same thing on my cucumber except half my cucumber plant is dead! Horn worms, mites, leaf miners, flea beetles and slugs eat the leaves of the tomato plant. They are not bothering the leaves and only eating the stems that the pistols are forming on. 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