All of my bougainvilleas have been getting munched this winter, and I've never had a problem with pests on them before. I keep looking under the leaves/around the plant and can't find a visible culprit. I had thought (obviously in error) that bougainvillea weren't generally bothered by pests.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Wyfe_of_Ent
Maybe slugs/snails?
Aren't they more of a summertime pest? I never see them here except in the summer.
I see grasshoppers all year, but, we are very warm, frost is rare. The grasshoppers have never bothered by bougainvillea, the eat lots of other things, they especially love my rain lilies. I would suspect slugs.
The more I investigate, the more I'm thinking slugs as well. The soil in all my container plants is peppered with slug eggs, which I pop whenever I encounter them, and this area and the weather of late is ideal for them. It would also explain why I'm not finding any direct evidence of pests in the daytime.
My plan of attack is to try to find the right nematodes for slugs, put out Sluggo, and maybe put down a few sections of newspaper regularly to cull them (and not have to touch them to throw them out! Bleah!)
Thankfully, it's going to get cold again this week, so activity should be minimal for a bit.
I could be wrong about the boug pests, but regardless, with all these snail/slug eggs, I need to deal with this tout de suite!
Thanks for helping me figure this stuff out, all!!
dale what's the white shrub next to the bougie? Sure is a pretty contrasting pair.
