My basil is being eaten alive. Please help! Every morning I see new victims: leaves chewed almost to the quick. The only "pest" I see out there is the ant. Does Basil have enemies in the bug world? I'm just losing my mind ... and all my pesto stock.
Pests and Diseases of Basil. From that list, I'd suspect Japanese beetles, but it's odd that you're not seeing any bugs on the plant, so perhaps not. It's difficult to suggest a solution without knowing what is causing the problem. Perhaps it is something nocturnal. Check to see if you can spot something at night with a flashlight.
The Japanese beetles in my neighborhood think my Sweet Basil is a buffet, but they leave the Genovese Basil alone. If you're not sure which kind you have, check to see if your basil has a distinct anise smell to it; that's Sweet Basil. Anyway, I tend to find them more in the mornings and evenings, so it could be that you're missing them when you look. If you do find them: When I go hunting for Japanese Beetles, I bring a little bucket of two inches of soapy water and knock them in. It kills them pretty quickly, and the damage to the plants is minimal if I check them often enough. I've tried "natural" insecticides containing Neem, but in my experience it doesn't stop them. So far the best solution has been carting my little soap bucket around the garden two or three times a day and knocking them in.
