Hello everyone, After years of keeping anthuriums I have never experienced anything like this before. For the past month or so my shade house has been attacked at night by some sort of creature that is devouring the new leaves of mainly my anthuriums. It has already destroyed a crop of seedling anthurium plowmanii, a crop of anthurium gracile, and left most of the anthurium pappillaminum bare, and just recently ate all the new emerging leaves and flower of my Anthurium Ace of Spades. Every morning I wake up to find something else eaten or half eaten. Ive sprayed several times with Sevin and once with Volks oil spray, but it doesnt even seem to slow this thing down. I also laid down snail and slug bait with no results what so ever. Just last night I sprayed with sevin again at night to make certain it was on the leaves and this morning it ate a young anthurium hybrid I was growing. It seems to prefer tender or newly emerging foliage. Im also thinking it may have hitch hiked on something I brought in from somewhere else. I live in miami, florida Your help with anything I can do or spray with would be appreciated. Thanks Eric
Try putting out traps or bait for field mice. When we lived in southern Miami I had the same problem frequently and finally put out bait upon the suggestion of another grower. Within days the problem ended. The mice especially love to eat young, tender leaves.
Eric: The type of damage will certainly determine the type of leaf predator. As Steve has pointed out, mice and (particularly) black rats will occasionally develop a taste for rare plants and must be baited or trapped. Slugs and snails invariably attack tender new growth, and leave rasped holes and tell-tale glistening slime trails. Metaldehyde baits work great and have fast knock down as opposed to more benign options like Sluggo. My guess based on your description of the pace of the damage would be some type of moth larva...satyriids in particular are often nocturnal, get big and can be savage with even mature/hardened aroid foliage. Generally, mice and rats leave gnawed, ragged edges on stems; katydids and wood crickets leave "notched" bite patterns, often at random as they move around; caterpillars will systematically eat half-moon sections out of leaves and so forth, almost looking like the semi-circular pattern that a human leaves on an apple or white shark leaves on a seal ;^) Apply something that is a stomach poison NOT a contact poison for butterfly/moth larvae. Good luck, Jay
Thanks for the problem anyway, so I can learn my lesson from Steve and Jay answers. And may the problem has been solved and no more damaged leaves. The problem I ever faced was mice and rats attack. And that's right to put poisoned baits around pots for them. This omnivora is really a mess.
Appreciate the help folks and to my surprise it was rats causing the damage. After years of growing anthuriums and alocasia I had never experienced anything like this. The little buggers developed a taste for newly developing leaves. Then once they were inside the shade house they "tasted" a bit of everything. Some of my specimens were left completely bare with no leaves at all. I layed plenty of bait down and even set up some traps. I think I took care of the problem but will continue to do so to get any new commers that happen by. Thanks again,
Glad you got it solved Eric. In 1999 I first experienced the problem and then again about 2 years ago. Not something you would expect to be eating your plants but the first time it happened to me a grower who loved aroids made the suggestion I put out bait and it turned out to be the solution. I hope everything returns to a healthy state quickly because I understand the devastation, and frustration, this kind of condition can cause!
Happy New Year everyone! Oh Eric, I feel your pain too. I had the same problem in Hawaii this year with rats eating holes in my collection. At first I blamed a local bird that is notorious for pecking holes in leaves and destroying new buds and orchid flowers, but then I studied the problem and realized my problem was a different animal. I was confused by the holes in some of the larger leaves, then realized after seeing some bent and broken petioles that these night visitors were actually climbing the petiole to reach the blades! Down went the bait and all is good now. We have some pet parrots in flights and over the years have had to take steps to prevent rats from the bird area. I like to use the type of bait that only needs to be eaten once by the pest to take effect. It comes in a little paper packet and can be placed where ever you suspect you have trouble. FYI, Rats and mice like dark small 2"-4" diameter tubes to run and hide in. Any type of tube, cardboard mailer (used triangle postage boxes), PVC pipe or even a drain spout in about a 2' length or longer will work. Just tear the corner of the bait packet a bit and place it inside the tube. Place the tube on the ground against a 'wall' in the area of the problem and within a few days the bait will be consumed. I have also placed the tubes up on the benches with good results. I do not like to put the bait out on top of the pots because it does mold up and turns into an unsightly mess when it gets wet. Please also remember your pets!! By leaving the bait exposed you are inviting trouble if a pet or neighbor's pet is attracted to it. The product is often manufactured with a grain base that many animals find tasty, not just rats!
