i have just bought several marigolds as plants from a gardening centre, and i also grew several sunflowers from seeds. they were growing fine in my mini- greenhouse, so i put them in my flowerbed. the next morning, something appeared to have eaten some of them completely! i managed to save a few marigolds, but the sunflower seedlings were completely gone, as were some of the smaller marigolds. also, around that area i have several large sshrubs and bushes, and several of the leaves appear to have holes in them. i cant see and slug or snail trails, or and bugs of any kind. what ate my plants?
First let me say that anyone who tells you that marigolds keep slugs and snails away is NUTSO! Marigolds have a very strong scent and once the sun is down and the slugs/snails are active you marigolds are going to be their first course. You often won't see any trails on the ground and only rarely on the plants (or what's left of them). The slugs/snails can eat all the leaves off a marigold plant - leaving only the stems - in one night. Sunflower plants are also enjoyed by slugs/snails with their nice juicy stalks. When planting these sort of slug/snail delights always put down some sort of bait or deterrent (copper wire, hair clippings). You will be quite surprised how many are there in your garden.
firstly, thankyou for replying. secondly, i had already put down loads of slug pellets near my plants, but i cant be certain it's not slugs or snails. is there a way they could have avoided them? sorry, i don't know what cutworms are.
You have slugs and snails. They don't always leave a trail and a very tiny baby slug can eat an entire marigold in one night. I put mariglods in my garden so the slugs will stay away from my lettuce ! Good luck Barb
