#1: Help - sunflower leaeves being eaten
Posted on 2006-06-13 18:47:21 by szeik
Hi,
Our daughter is growing a sunflower that she started in preschool. It
is one of those giant sunflowers.
So far the plant does not seem to be doing very well. It is tall, but
the leaves are being eaten by something. I don't see any bugs, but
there are small holes on the leaves.
It is pretty tall and has a good size stem, but very few leaves at this
point, and the new ones keep getting eaten by something. The plant is
almost 2 feet tall now.
Should I spray this plant with something? I'm not a big gardener so
I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to do to try and revive this
plant.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
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#2: Re: Help - sunflower leaeves being eaten
Posted on 2006-06-13 22:24:46 by JoeSpareBedroom
<szeik@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1150217241.055831.171110@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Our daughter is growing a sunflower that she started in preschool. It
> is one of those giant sunflowers.
>
> So far the plant does not seem to be doing very well. It is tall, but
> the leaves are being eaten by something. I don't see any bugs, but
> there are small holes on the leaves.
>
> It is pretty tall and has a good size stem, but very few leaves at this
> point, and the new ones keep getting eaten by something. The plant is
> almost 2 feet tall now.
>
> Should I spray this plant with something? I'm not a big gardener so
> I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to do to try and revive this
> plant.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Steve
>
1) Have you checked under the leaves to see if anyone's hanging on &
munching? Do this at night, too, with a flashlight.
2) Think of the leaf with the worst damage. Can you guess as to what
percentage of surface area is eaten?
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#3: Re: Help - sunflower leaeves being eaten
Posted on 2006-06-14 02:23:44 by Bill R
szeik@hotmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Our daughter is growing a sunflower that she started in preschool. It
> is one of those giant sunflowers.
>
> So far the plant does not seem to be doing very well. It is tall, but
> the leaves are being eaten by something. I don't see any bugs, but
> there are small holes on the leaves.
>
> It is pretty tall and has a good size stem, but very few leaves at this
> point, and the new ones keep getting eaten by something. The plant is
> almost 2 feet tall now.
>
> Should I spray this plant with something? I'm not a big gardener so
> I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to do to try and revive this
> plant.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Steve
>
Steve,
We grow lots of sunflowers and have trouble with snails and slugs eating
the leaves. Also, in some areas they are eaten by some type of cut worms.
Here is something to try that is safe around kids: Mix a capful of
liquid soap (Dawn works well) with a gallon of water and spray the plant
until water drips off the plant. You will need to do that every few
days (more if it rains) and you don't need to spray the flower head.
The soap will not hurt the sunflowers.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)
Gardening for over 40 years
To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen
Digital Camera - Pentax *ist DL
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