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like they're being chewed right off???

i'm pretty new to the CP arena and i need some help!!

i've got a bog garde that's 2 parts peat/1 part sand. i've got VFT and ptichers. it only gets rain water.

when i put my new plants in back in april, everything started growing like gangbusters. then all the sudden, all my pitcher plants look like they've got bite marks in them. the older shoots are all eaten up and the new shoots look like they've been bitten right off.

close inspection does not reveal any visable bugs. but whatever it is- they're DESTROYING my precious pitchers.

HELP!!!!

i'd post pictures, but i'm not sure how exactly.
 
I would check for snails or slugs. Take a jar cap, fill it with beer and set it in the bog. If snails or slugs are present, you'll find them in the beer.
 
Indeed, hard to say without pics
but sounds like slugs.
If you are growing in pots, unless they sit in water, the slugs often hide right under the pot itself!
I would go out tonight with a flashlight after 10ish, and look at the leaves carefully.
Slugs come out at night and munch away, and then hide during the day.

If you find any, crush their little brains out! Yucky, but if you don't kill them, they WILL be back!

Slugs often leave a slime trail, which often dries and can be seen during the day as reflective trails on the leaf. A sure sign of their activity.

If indeed it is slugs, you will need to find a way to keep them out.
Having plants in pots with the water tray with water will help, so long as there isn't a "dry path" to the pots from a leaf or the pots touching the sides, etc.
If you have an in-ground bog, a slug trap (yep-using beer as bait!) will help. You can also spread sharp sand, crushed eggshells, or sharp lavarock around each plant. The slugs have tender little bodies and don't like walking on anything sharp.
Another thing you can do is to take a piece of stripped copper wire (large size, like housing wire) and form it into a complete circle (ends connected) that you can put on top of the "soil" around the outside of the plant. Apparently there is enough induced electrical current, to make crossing the copper wire difficult for the slugs, as they literally get electrocuted! (Yea, it's tough being a slug!) Apparently it is enough current to make touching it uncomfortable. Just make sure that there are no open paths for them to get past the ring without actually having to crawl over it. I would make 2 complete circles of it, to double their exposure to it.
I can't say how well this works, but I have heard people who used this very effectively. I have done the eggshell and sand/lava rock route, with some success. But no matter what method you chose, you need to check it from time to time to make sure there is no "path" thru the barrier.

There is always traps, poisons, etc too.

Again, without pics it is hard to say for sure if it really is slugs. (Do try looking for them a few nights at different times if you can. Catching them in the act is the best way! And look under leaves too!)

Oh yea...
To add pics, you need to post them somewhere else first, like photobucket.com or somewhere else on the net. Then copy the location URL of the picture (it will display that url address with your pic on photobucket) and paste it here using the "button"/icon that looks like a small mountain scene.
(If you try replying to this message (Do it!), it will appear right above the message window, first icon is B (for bold), then I for Italic, U, and so on....it is the 14th icon over from the left, and looks like a square with 2 mountains and a sun in it. Holding the cursor over it, it will say "Insert Image".)
Hope that helps a little. It is a process to post pics, but once you do it once, it is a breeze.

Good luck with the Pitchers, slugs, and pics!
And welcome to TF!
:water:
Paul
 
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Mine seem to be leafcutter bee magnets. I haven't found a way to keep them at bay.
 
This year seems to be the one for bugs around here too. Caught this guy yesterday
expman.pl
 
Unfortunately, your plants are subject to whatever nature allows.... birds, insects, etc... Welcome to TF. It's like junior high out there and it's very nasty!
 
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