Someone is eating my dahlias

[Occitane]

Novice gardener looking for advice 😊

I planted some dahlia tubers, and they are growing well but something is eating them.

I will try to upload photos. Can anyone advise what this might be?

Snails and slugs love them!

Mine are under attack from slugs. I doubt they’ll survive at this rate.

definitely slugs. Get some nematodes and put down a couple of beer traps and perhaps you can save them.

Or slug pellets. I put an upturned wire hanging basket over mine so you can keep away other wildlife if you’re concerned.

We must be neighbours!

Use beer traps to start with. Nematodes will take a while to start working

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to protect it from slugs and snails if those are the culprits.

I've brought the pot inside tonight, as I've never seen anything on it in the daytime.

I’ve given up growing them as they just get eaten by slugs and snails.

Yes, slugs and snails - they can be incredibly small! I’ve got copper mesh around mine, and beer traps, and wool pellets. It’s war out there!

Bringing your plant inside won't do anything. They might be "inside" the pot; they often hide in soil. Since it's not fruit or veg, go ahead and use slug pellets.

Deffo slugs and snails, and they can be saved (I nursed one last year which was basically scoffed to the ground THREE! times by the bastard snails in my garden. It didn’t flower last year but it did survive and come back this year).

I used copper mesh around the pot, put the pot on feet to hinder them from getting in the bottom (yes it can still be done but much harder). I had a plastic cloche over them in the ground last year, but obviously in summer you will bake the plant if you do that. Mesh cloches work on snails though, slugs can still get through.

If you bring them inside check the pots at night and you’ll likely find slugs appear out of the potted soil to start munching on the foliage. You can just get rid of them but you have to check consistently to give the plant a chance.

My experience of beer traps is that slugs come streaming in from outside your garden, which is less than ideal.