Help! Something is eating my marigolds!

I planted a marigold in each bed to help deter bugs, oh well! Couldn't find any bugs, but 1 of my marigolds is eaten down to the ground. All the leaves are chewed up.

The bloom is still attached, guess it doesn't taste good. Is this what is supposed to happen? Maybe it kills the bugs as they eat it?

Jo

I've read that slugs will eat marigolds, no problem. I'm interested to read what others say about this. I don't think it's that the marigolds are poisonous, but just that the smell of the flower is a deterrent.

I planted marigolds from seed and have no flowers yet. I need to remember to plant them around in the garden. I still have them all in the seed flat.

I had a bezillion marigolds coming up from seed this year and since it rained just about the whole months of April-May, the slugs and snails have gone wild here....and they have eaten almost every single one of the seedlings! I couldn't believe it when I saw that they had been eaten up! I think I have only about 3 left standing, only because they are growing in the middle of plants (some Good King Henry perpetual "spinach") that those slimey critters don't prefer. LOL

Thank goodness, marigolds are easy to reseed and usually never fail me!

Those darn critters did just eat one of my four baby cabbage plants this week that I had set out, too. They left behing their slimey trail as evidence! Luckily, I have a few more plants in the nursery to replace it with.

Slugs are the peskiest...they come out during the night...and are so...gross! I love their Italian local dialect name..."sblerch".. pretty much sums up their description, I think. LOL

The huge snails are easier to catch and see. Escargot, anyone? LOL

Slugs ate up my marigolds this year. Haven't had a problem with them before but sure do now. I've been applying Sluggo and diatamaceous earth. It is helping but this year seems to be the year of the slugs.

CharlesB wrote:Slugs .....this year seems to be the year of the slugs.

I agree, this morning there were some slugs on the outside of the box in full sunlight. That's a first. So much for only coming out at night. I wonder if toads eat them, at least it was good to see them under the lettuce leaves.