Grrrrrrr Something ate my basil!

[angelo04]

I live in Central NJ. Planted Romaine, Ice-burg and Arugula around May 1. They are doing well and no pests have bothered them. Yesterday I planted the rest of my garden, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, parsley and BASIL!

I checked on the garden this morning and bugs attacked and decimated 2 out of 4 basil plants. I am so mad. The plants are way too Small IMHO to start treating with pesticides. I normally do not use pesticides and opt for Lady bugs and/or praying mantis later in the season.

This more of a vent though any advice is appreciated but I think it is too late...at least for the basil. suppose I could replant but only after dealing with this mysterious pest. This has never happened before. Grrrrrrrrr!!!

[MRS]

would marigolds serve any purpose? i recall my father and grandfather planting them all around the vegetable garden when I was a little girl.

[srsone]

i only remember hearing marigolds keep away mosquito's...

dont remember anything about them for snails..

[GardenFresh]

From P. Allen Smith's website:
"Marigolds - The marigold is probably the most well known plant for repelling insects. French marigolds repel whiteflies and kill bad nematodes. Mexican marigolds are said to offend a host of destructive insects and wild rabbits as well. If you choose marigolds for your garden they must be scented to work as a repellant. And while this plant drives away many bad bugs, it also attracts spider mites and snails."
[http://www.pallensmith.com/articles/p...].

So maybe it would be a good thing to plant a ways away from the plants you want to protect, in the hopes snails will gravitate toward the marigolds and away from the herbs.

[angelo04]

Coincidence? Maybe but I think marigolds are the answer. I typically plant them on the garden and forgot about that trick this year and this is the first time I have had this problem.

[MRS]

My father used to leave an extra row at the edges of his garden plot especially to plant marigolds. I never recall seeing a single snail in the garden- we live in NY, maybe they aren't common here?
Do you think it's too late to plant a row or 2 now?

[angelo04]

I hope not, however I can't get to it until Saturday, my fingers are crossed

[pine time]

Good luck, but my marigold story: planted 'em about 3 feet away from the vegetable bed. Next morning, every single marigold flower was missing--just the naked stems & leaves remained. Now THAT's a bug problem!

[srsone]

or a human one..........

[MRS]

or a furry one that likes to snack on smelly flowers...

[pine time]

since I don't like marigolds (appearance or smell), Mr. Pine Time accused me of sneaking out at night & clipping off all the flowers. Innocent, I swear!

[MRS]

That's very funny, actually. They do stink somethin' awful.

[pine time]

I finally succumbed today to buying rabbit fencing (or anti-rabbit fencing?) for the veg garden. Figured the plants cost more than the fencing, so tired of losing so much to the critters.

[srsone]

i remember my dad putting out a low,wide plate of beer for snails
the snails would go in and drown...

[OCEllen]

Snails?

[CarrieWas218]

Definitely snails. I've got 23 different herbs growing and they only seem to go after the basil.

Get snail bait. It works and is necessary if you want your basil.

Also, it may not be too late. After my leaves were destroyed, I scattered the snail bait and continued to water the plants and new shoots are emerging.

[GardenFresh]

Another solution to deter slugs / snails is to scatter a bunch of crushed egg shells all around your tender plants; the shards of the shells hurt the soft bodies of the bugs and they seem to stay away, at least to my experience.