Marianne's Response

Plants getting eaten alive

We came home last week from an extended vacation to find that my hollyhocks, hydrangeas, and my Spider’s Web Fatsia plant leaves were pock marked with holes and/or leaves completely skeletonized. I looked at the undersides of the leaves and found no bugs, worms, moths, webs, or cocoons sheltered there. We had just placed new beauty bark over landscape fabric around all the plants right before we left (except the Spider’s Web, which is in a container) and I wonder if we brought in something with the bark? I did some internet searching and found a couple of entries that said it might be earwigs, which we do have. So I have pulled back the bark from the plants and placed diatomaceous earth around the plants and hope this is going to save the remaining leaves. Does this sound reasonable? Or do you have other thoughts and/or recommendations?

Posted by Debbie Nighswonger on July 9, 2018

Marianne's Response

I agree you could have a lot or earwigs brought in with the bark but the damage in the photo is so severe I suspect rose chafers, a gray beetle about 1/2 inch long. The good news is this pest feeds for 4 to 6 week then disappears. You can try to identify the culprit by placing a small slice or rotting potato near the infected plants. After a few days see if there are earwigs or gray beetles feeding on the potato. To control the beetles there is a milky spore disease pesticide called Bacillus popillieae that can be worked into the soil to kill the grubs in the spring. Don't worry I do think the plants will outgrow the damage and survive. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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