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[2010] Petunias- something is eating my flowers!

LAX Mom

LAX Mom

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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I planted a bunch of flowers about a month ago and recently noticed something has been eating the flowers off the petunias in the back yard. Today I noticed the blossoms are also being torn off the petunias in the front. It doesn't look like a bug or snail. None of the other flowers seem to have been touched.

Any ideas on what might be eating my petunias? deer? birds?
 
I have guesses, but no answers. Maybe rabbits? Maybe groundhogs?

Once I had a nice head of broccoli growing. One morning leaving for work, I looked at it and decided to have it for dinner. When I came home, the plant was broken and the broccoli was gone. A few days later we saw a fat groundhog waddling through my garden. We lowered the gate on my fence and he didn't eat anything ever again.
 
LAX Mom said:
I planted a bunch of flowers about a month ago and recently noticed something has been eating the flowers off the petunias in the back yard. Today I noticed the blossoms are also being torn off the petunias in the front. It doesn't look like a bug or snail. None of the other flowers seem to have been touched.

Any ideas on what might be eating my petunias? deer? birds?
Click to expand...

Some of the flowers on one pot of petunias I planted have big ragged holes chewed in them and some of the flowers are gone entirely. Not sure if this is the same thing as you have. However, I did find some green caterpillars chewing on them- way deep down in the trumpet of the flower.

I have not done anything about it and the plant is still growing like gangbusters.

As nonchalant as I feel about the petunias, I was steamed when little tiny inchworms were eating my lettuces. I went to the garden center and they sold me some spinosad (sp?), which is a spray containing a bacteria that prevents inchworms and caterpillars from digesting their food. So if you do find caterpillars at least you know there is something to try.

Good luck. The inchies & I have reached detante and the lettuces survived.

H
 
Could be rabbits or deer, but I don't think we have groundhogs around here. I've had deer eat my tulips many times but never any other flowers in the late spring/summer.

We are close to the mountains and I know we have deer that wander in the neighborhood but I've never heard of rabbits. I've planted lots of flowers every year (including petunias) but never had this problem before. Whatever it is, they are leaving all the other flowers alone and just eating the petunias.

Thanks for all the ideas!
 
Call your local "established nursery" (whether you use them or not) which is usually family-owned and most likely has been there for years. They usually know exactly what does it, and you'll have your answer in about two minutes.

They will most likely have a recommendation to counteract the source. If you try a nursery or plant/flower department associated with a chain store, they won't have a clue, as they only sell stuff.
 
jme said:
Call your local "established nursery" (whether you use them or not) which is usually family-owned and most likely has been there for years. They usually know exactly what does it, and you'll have your answer in about two minutes.

They will most likely have a recommendation to counteract the source. If you try a nursery or plant/flower department associated with a chain store, they won't have a clue, as they only sell stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll do that tomorrow.
 
More than likely its deer. Get some natural spray repellant. (at any hardware store) Spray in the morning, make sure it doesn't rain for a couple hours at least to let it settle in. Every two weeks repeat.
 
Caught them in the act today........it's birds (sparrows I think)!

I saw one fly down to my flower beds and start pecking at the petunias. Then a few of his friends joined him and they were definitely pulling the petunias off. It looked like they were eating them. I was shocked! I've always planted lots of flowers, but never had any problems except deer eating my tulips.

I don't know if there is anyway to keep the birds away from my petunias. I can't stay outside all day and scare them away. We have a dog but she obviously hasn't been keeping them away. It's stange that they eat the petunias and leave all the rest of the flowers alone.
 
hmmmmm

LAX Mom said:
Caught them in the act today........it's birds (sparrows I think)!

I saw one fly down to my flower beds and start pecking at the petunias. Then a few of his friends joined him and they were definitely pulling the petunias off. It looked like they were eating them. I was shocked! I've always planted lots of flowers, but never had any problems except deer eating my tulips.

I don't know if there is anyway to keep the birds away from my petunias. I can't stay outside all day and scare them away. We have a dog but she obviously hasn't been keeping them away. It's stange that they eat the petunias and leave all the rest of the flowers alone.
Click to expand...

did they leave a Thank You note for the lovely salad bar? jme
 
I had the same problem this year. Planted merrigod, petunia repeatedly and none really took off. I also suspected birds (saw crows diving down once) but have no solution for this.:(
 
You can try netting. Construct a small frame over the flower bed and lay bird netting over it. You can still see the flowers through the netting but the birds can't get to them.
 
I know this is a really old post but I just googled the topic and found it as I have a hanging plant with petunias next to our feeder in Minnesota.

I noticed over the last few weeks occassionally one or two sprigs (yes the entire thing - stem and all) on the ground.

A couple of days ago we ran out of bird food so the feeder has been empty for 2-3 days. I came home from work to find over half of my hanging plant chomped down to almost nothing!

It has to be the birds! There is no way in heck bugs could have eaten that much in a day!

The most present bird we have in the area is one particular red-winged blackbird that scares away the rest of the birds from the feeder. My guess is that he is the culprit!
 
lmkucala said:
I know this is a really old post but I just googled the topic and found it as I have a hanging plant with petunias next to our feeder in Minnesota.

I noticed over the last few weeks occassionally one or two sprigs (yes the entire thing - stem and all) on the ground.

A couple of days ago we ran out of bird food so the feeder has been empty for 2-3 days. I came home from work to find over half of my hanging plant chomped down to almost nothing!

It has to be the birds! There is no way in heck bugs could have eaten that much in a day!

The most present bird we have in the area is one particular red-winged blackbird that scares away the rest of the birds from the feeder. My guess is that he is the culprit!
Click to expand...
Most likely you had bugs or grubs in your hanging plant. Blackbirds will make a mess of anything searching for insects. Around here, they like picking through the redwood mulch, and they spread that out from the mulch areas onto the grass. Dirty birds! :mad:

Kurt
 
I'd love to find a blackbird repellent. Don't think it exists, short of a slingshot.

Enjoy feeding the groundfeeders like quail or pheasant, but the blackbirds wipe us out. And birdseed isn't exactly cheap these days. Some people think of blackbirds as songbirds, but I find their 'songs' annoying.
 
We have a problem with deer and rabbits. I use a natural spray repellant which helps a little. I'm considering an electric, single wire garden fance. We already have an invisible fence surrounding our property for the dog. Can't figure out how to get the little collars on the darn rabbits. :hysterical:
 
I started this thread 2 years ago, but I'm having the same problem again this year. It is definitely birds eating my petunias. We have a bunch of wild rabbits in the neighborhood, but I've seen the birds pulling at the petunias petals.

They seem to prefer the lavender purple and dark purple. My neighbor has some red & white and they don't touch those.

They don't touch my other flowers. I've told DH to remind me next year to not plant petunias.
 
LAX Mom said:
I started this thread 2 years ago, but I'm having the same problem again this year. It is definitely birds eating my petunias. We have a bunch of wild rabbits in the neighborhood, but I've seen the birds pulling at the petunias petals.

They seem to prefer the lavender purple and dark purple. My neighbor has some red & white and they don't touch those.

They don't touch my other flowers. I've told DH to remind me next year to not plant petunias.
Click to expand...

Ha! How funny! My petunias are (or were:( ) dark purple too!
 
lmkucala said:
Ha! How funny! My petunias are (or were:( ) dark purple too!
Click to expand...

I knew it! The birds like the purple petunias.
Thanks for confirming this. Next year I'll purchase another color.
 
Quail ate our petunias this year.
 
I know I'm really late to this one, but...yup. Same problem! Sparrows (& possibly house finches) are making meals out of my purple petunias!! They've tasted the pink ones they are potted with..not interested, & have left the red ones totally alone. To me, it seems like it's mostly the males doing this, although I don't always catch 'em, so can't be sure..maybe it's some little birdy form of viagra lol! My daughter thinks maybe they're giving it to the females-like some birds only like blue, or shiny, etc...but I'm pretty sure they're just eating them. Just want to find out why!! Oh..& prolly not gonna plant the purple ones again, little buggers...
 
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