What's eating my Rhubarb?

wssla00

I have just come back from a week away and when I came back I have been met with an abundance of fruit and veg growing- except one thing- my rhubarb!

The leaves have been stripped bare and I'm not sure what has happened. Nothing else looks like this.

Can anyone help?

Many thanks

wendytiggermad

Snap mine has been in the greenhouse until this week when i went out the other day same problem but could not see anything.... but the next day under the soil there was a great big fat brown slug grrrrrrrrr :mad: he's well salted now

wssla00

Hmm must be the dreaded slugs then.... I can't see any but will put a beer trap up to see if that keeps them away. They are sooo greedy. I wouldn't mind if they only took a little bit!!!

Kay_Peel

My rhubarb always looks like that at this time of year!

I think it's a caterpillar of some description.

While the leaves are bare, except for the stalk and veins, the stems seem untouched, so I don't worry about it. It's the stalks that I want, not the leaves, so I just spray the rhubarb with grey water from my washing up bowl and put a few slug pellets around it.

:beer:

wssla00

Thank you yeah the stalks seem to be ok

forgotmyname

One of mine started to sprout a seed head, I pulled it out & at the bottom in the crease i found a caterpillar hiding.

Very snug.

What nibbles the stalks? I have a few that have been nibbled very slightly on the edge.

Thanks