How To Tell What's Eating My Plants

At one point or another, you’re probably going to have to deal with animals or bugs eating your plants. Unfortunately, that’s part of being a gardener, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. It’s easier to fight back if you know what’s been eating your plants.

The best way to tell what is eating your plants is to closely inspect the leaves for trails and bite marks. For example, slugs and aphids leave slimy secretions behind on leaves, which can help identify them. You can tell deer or rabbits have been eating your plants if they’ve been heavily grazed and only stems remain.

It’s important to find out which bugs and animals are most active in your area, as that can help you narrow your search. From there, you can do a little research to figure out how to keep away the pests that are causing your problems. Follow along as we explore how to tell what is eating your plants and highlight ways to keep them away.

What’s Eating My Plants?

You can only determine what’s eating your plants if you closely examine the area. That doesn’t just mean you should look at the bite marks, since many bite marks look the same. Many animals and bugs leave other signs behind. Whether it's slimy trails or dirty mounds, you can tell what is eating your plants by looking for several things, such as:

Spider Mites

Spider mites are so small that many people don’t catch them right away. However, the longer you go without killing spider mites, the more they’ll destroy your plants. These small arachnids feed on many types of ornamental plants, fruits, and veggies. They’re especially drawn to dusty, neglected plants, and they’re most active in hot, dry weather. Spider mites leave small white and yellow specks on plants, which indicate they’ve been eating.

Their bite marks look like stippling, as the specks are closely grouped. They also leave small, dusty, weak webs on leaves, and the leaves slowly yellow. After a while, they will curl and drop due to prolonged damage. The best way to get rid of spider mites is to clean, water, and prune your plants, but it can take a while.

Deer

Deer may be cute, but they can also wreak havoc on your garden. Their natural diet consists of everything from bark and twigs to flowers, bugs, blooms, grass, and leafy greens. This means many plants in the average yard are vulnerable to deer. You can tell deer have been eating your plants if you find heavily grazed areas with only stems remaining.

They rarely leave anything else behind, besides their droppings, which look like dark, round pellets, and you may find them near your garden. Keeping deer away from plants isn’t always easy, but physical barriers provide the best results. For example, building a fence, installing chicken wire, and using motion-activated lights can deter deer. You can also spray the area around your plants with garlic oil, hot sauce, and Liquid Fence.

Aphids

Aphids are every gardener’s worst nightmare, and they can cause devastating damage. These small pests quickly reproduce, and can take over your garden in seemingly no time. They don’t discriminate as much as other pests, and eat ornamental flowers as much as they eat vegetables. You can tell aphids have been eating your plants if the flowers look curled, weakened, and yellowed.

The leaves may twist inward, but it depends on which side of the leaves the aphids are on. Aphids can cluster on top or on the underside of leaves. They also produce sticky, slimy secretions, or trails. Mold can even grow on these secretions, which can further damage your plants. The best way to deter aphids is to blast them with water and treat your plants with neem oil.

Raccoons

Raccoons aren’t picky eaters, and they’ll eat your plants as quickly as they’d eat your trash. That’s especially true if you have lots of fruit-bearing trees or fallen fruit in your yard. They’re also drawn to corn, melons, and potatoes, but they’ll eat most plants nearby.

Raccoons are messier than most other animals, and they often rip plants up while eating. They also can dig into the ground around your plants while searching for grubs. The best way to deter raccoons is to remove yard debris, pick up fallen fruit, and elevate your garden beds.

Groundhogs

Groundhogs are cute but they’re quite destructive and can kill your plants if you don’t get them under control. They produce sharp bites on leaves and stems, but they don’t always stop there.  If you can’t identify groundhog bites, you can at least identify their burrows. Groundhogs burrow into the ground and leave large mounds of dirt nearby.

You will likely find these dirt mounds near leafy greens and other vegetables. That said, they also eat ornamental flowers, like pansies. Physical barriers are most effective, but you can also deter groundhogs using strong scents. Scatter some cayenne pepper, ammonia, or garlic oil around your plants to keep groundhogs away.

Rabbits

Many homeowners have dealt with rabbits eating their leafy greens, beans, and peas. They leave cleaner bite marks than many other animals and bugs in your garden, and they sometimes look as if you intentionally pruned your plants. However, there’s no mistaking that rabbits are responsible when you find signs of heavy grazing accompanied by droppings.

Rabbit droppings typically come in small clusters near where they recently ate. Familiarize yourself with what rabbit droppings look like to figure out what’s been eating your plants. The best way to deter rabbits is to build a physical barrier that’s taller than the rabbits. For example, chicken wire that stands over 2 feet tall should keep rabbits away.

Slugs

Slugs don’t leave the most distinct bite marks on plants as some other bugs and animals do. The holes they leave behind are quite ragged and uneven in most cases. However, the slime trail slugs leave behind can give you a clue as to what is eating your plants and is the biggest clue that slugs are responsible for the damage. This slime consists of mucus, water, and sugar, so it won’t harm your plants, but the bites will.

Stink Bugs

Stink bugs don’t just smell bad; they can also eat your plants. Unfortunately, their bites are sometimes hard to identify, so you must look for several signs. When they eat your plants, you’ll frequently find small pinprick bites on the leaves. Stink bugs can also leave cloudy, sunken spots in fruit when feeding on fruit-bearing plants. Like many other bugs, they often leave excrement behind. It looks like small, tarry, black spots on or around your plants.

Field Mice And Voles

Many people detest rodents, and your plants probably do too. That’s because rodents, like field mice and voles, eat root vegetables, seeds, nuts, and even some fruits. The bite marks don’t vary too much between rodents, and they’re somewhat easy to identify. Their sharp teeth produce angular bite marks that measure 1/8” long. Voles often dig deep, targeting roots and bulbs, but they munch on surface-level leafy greens as well.

Mice sometimes target carrots, beans, potatoes, grains, and flower bulbs. The best way to keep rodents out of the garden is to keep it clean to ensure they won’t hide and nest. It’s also a good idea to put liners in your raised garden beds and surround them with chicken wire.

What Plants Deter Aphids?

Many plants, such as marigolds, mint, sage, basil, and garlic, deter aphids and other problematic bugs. Marigolds not only keep away aphids, but can also stop squash bugs, nematodes, and other pests from eating your plants. Mint, sage, rosemary, and garlic also produce powerful scents, like alliums, which help keep aphids away.

The trick is to mix them among the plants that have been getting eaten. It also helps to put these plants along the perimeter of your garden to make aphids and other bugs hesitate before approaching. Luckily, many of the best plants that deter bugs also look and smell great, even if aphids don’t agree.

Summing It Up

Pay attention to the bite marks on your plants and look out for other signs, like slime trails, that likely indicate slugs and or aphids have been eating your plants. Dirt mounds and claw marks can tell you that groundhogs, rabbits, field mice, or voles are the culprits.

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