What's eating my plants?

Holes in leaves, seedlings disappearing, damaged leaf edges and speckled leaves are just some of the signs that critters or insects may be attacking your vegetable plants, trees, shrubs, lawns or flowers. Callers and visitors want to know, "What's eating my plants?"

Often, no pest is evident. Sometimes a strange bug is visible, but you don't know if it is a pest or a beneficial insect. Never spray until you have identified the pest and researched all alternative resolutions to the problem. Spraying is usually the last resort.

How can you find the sneaky rascals damaging your precious plants? Look for clues to help identify the pest. First, inspect the plant thoroughly at least once a week. This will help you catch the "buggers" before they create severe problems.

Look at both sides of the leaves, around buds and flowers, and along the stems. If you plan to call Cooperative Extension for help, note what the plant is, which plant parts are affected, and the kind of damage that has been done. You may want to look in the top 2 to 3 inches of soil or mulch to see if the pest is a soil dweller, such as a cutworm. You may also find clusters of eggs or even insect droppings. Tomato hornworms leave large, peppercorn-size pellets.

Some pests only come out at night. When a lilac or other plant shows signs of cuttings on the leaf margins, like those made by pinking shears, put a white sheet under the plant. Go out at night with a flashlight and a rolled- up newspaper. Gently bat the branches over the sheet, and you will probably see the root weevils that are eating the edges of the leaves.

Another way to capture some critters is to put a sticky product on the plant's stems. You can buy special products or use double-sided tape. After placing the product or tape on the branch or stem, look to see what gets stuck when crawling across it.

Here are some common pests and their signs. Large ragged holes usually indicate beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, snails, slugs or possibly earwigs. Curled, twisted, puckered or distorted leaves are evidence of aphids or leafhoppers. Curled leaves along with webs could be a sign of webworms.

Speckled or silvery leaves are the calling cards of thrips. When sticky, shiny goo is covering and dripping from trees, aphids or mites are usually sucking the sap. Codling moth larvae cause wormy apples. Rose or raspberry canes with holes down the center of the stems are borer tunnels.

Seedlings chewed off at soil level could be cutworms, birds or rabbits. Spider mites cause yellow spotted leaves or graying needles. Whiteflies collect on the undersides of leaves and fly up in a cloud when disturbed.

If you suspect a problem, be a detective and inspect the plant carefully. Contact me at 887-2252 or skellyj@unce.unr.edu or your local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office for help or more gardening information.

Check out many useful horticulture publications at www.unce.unr.edu.

• JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.