What's eating my hibiscus?
- Thread starter RoseInMo
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Where in the US do you live? USDA zone?
I'm guessing MO by your screen name but not sure. Lots of bugs like hibiscus leaves, so more info and photos would help. I doubt it's deer; they'd probably eat the whole plant and not just the leaves. If you're in a rural enough area it could be deer I guess.
I'm guessing MO by your screen name but not sure. Lots of bugs like hibiscus leaves, so more info and photos would help. I doubt it's deer; they'd probably eat the whole plant and not just the leaves. If you're in a rural enough area it could be deer I guess.
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As stated above without pics it is only guessing but if only a leaf or two is missing it isn't deer as they will eat the entire thing, and if they don't eat it they will pull it out of the ground. Also, not knowing your location makes it even harder or impossible to help
Yeah, it's MO. I'm sure it's not bugs because the entire leaf is gone leaving only the stub of the stem. One of my plants is completely stripped while two others are about half gone. This just started a couple of weeks ago and I've had these plants in for many years with nothing like this before. Something is biting the whole leaf off and that's why I suspect deer. Don't know how to stop them tho'.
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Has the leaf disappeared or is it laying on the ground? In MO you have deer that are pretty big unlike here in Texas where they aren't much bigger than 120 lbs and even they leave tracks, footprints or little round balls of poop. What we also have here in Texas are rats, field rats, and they will wreak havoc on just about anything. I have had this happen before to my wifes flowers and to my vegetable garden. When deer hit a garden they will trample and stomp and make a general mess of where they have been and if you look closely you will see their signs. Rats on the other hand leave no sign whatsoevever. If you see leaves on the ground and they haven't been chewed on it is cutworms. If you see leaves on the ground that are half eaten then you have caterpillars. If there are no leaves on the ground and no deer tracks in the dirt it is rats. If you do see signs of deer there is a product that works pretty good, or at least in Texas it does and it is called Liquid Fence and you can find it online
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Wow! This reminds me of my green beans. We had a huge problem with deer eating them. Then the horse started eating them. I am not so sure what's eating your plants but it could be bugs of some sort. Who knows there are many things that could be feeding off of it. I drink the tea myself. I sure hope that you find out. You may be able to google it. Maybe try a search that says bugs that eat that particular herb.