Salvia, a diverse genus encompassing both ornamental and culinary varieties, is a popular choice for many gardens due to its vibrant blooms and often aromatic foliage. These plants are generally resilient, adapting well to various conditions. Even with their hardiness, however, salvia plants can occasionally become targets for garden pests, leading to diminished vigor and aesthetic appeal. Understanding the common culprits and their tell-tale signs is the first step in maintaining healthy salvia displays.
Insect Pests That Eat Salvia
Several insect pests can damage salvia plants, each leaving distinct marks. Slugs and snails are nocturnal feeders that chew irregular holes in leaves, often leaving a silvery slime trail. They favor tender new growth.
Caterpillars create irregular holes in leaves and can defoliate plants entirely, sometimes leaving small droppings.
Sap-sucking insects like aphids cluster on the undersides of leaves and on stems, feeding on plant fluids. Their feeding causes leaves to curl, become distorted, or turn yellow. They excrete a sticky substance called honeydew, which can lead to sooty mold growth. Spider mites, tiny arachnids that thrive in hot, dry conditions, also feed by piercing plant cells and extracting sap. Infested leaves may show tiny yellow or brown spots, known as stippling, and fine webbing can appear between leaves and stems as the infestation progresses. Whiteflies are small, white-winged insects often found on the undersides of leaves; when disturbed, they flutter around the plant. Like aphids, they suck sap, causing yellowing leaves and producing honeydew, which can also result in sooty mold.
Animal Pests That Eat Salvia
Larger animal pests can also pose a threat to salvia plants, often causing more extensive damage than insects. Deer, while sometimes deterred by the aromatic foliage of certain salvia varieties, can still browse on them, especially when other food sources are scarce. Their feeding typically results in ragged, torn leaves and stems, as deer lack upper incisors and tend to pull at vegetation rather than make clean cuts. This damage often appears overnight.
Rabbits are common garden pests that chew through young salvia plants. They tend to make clean, angled cuts on stems, often consuming entire seedlings or fresh shoots down to the ground. Evidence of rabbit activity may include small, pellet-like droppings nearby.
Voles, small, mouse-like rodents, primarily cause damage underground by gnawing on roots and stems near the soil line. They create shallow tunnels just beneath the surface, which can lead to plants wilting or becoming dislodged easily, even if the above-ground parts appear relatively intact initially.
Gophers, burrowing rodents, can cause significant damage by pulling entire salvia plants into their underground tunnels. Their presence is often indicated by fan-shaped mounds of soil, where fresh dirt is pushed out of an opening, or by sunken areas in the garden where tunnels collapse. The sudden disappearance of a plant, or a plant wilting without apparent above-ground damage, can sometimes point to gopher activity.
How to Identify What’s Eating Your Salvia
Identifying the specific pest damaging your salvia involves careful observation of the plant and its surroundings, beginning with the type of damage, such as ragged edges, holes, stippling, or distorted growth. Look for specific signs like slime trails, insect droppings, fine webbing, or sticky residue.
The timing of damage provides clues; slugs and snails are most active at night, so check plants at dusk or early morning for their presence or fresh slime trails. Inspect both upper and lower leaf surfaces, as many pests hide on the undersides. For suspected subterranean pests, investigate the soil around the plant for tunnels, mounds, or disturbed roots.
Protecting Salvia From Pests
Maintaining overall plant health is a foundational step in deterring pests from salvia. Providing adequate sunlight, proper watering, and avoiding excessive nitrogen fertilization can help salvia plants develop strong natural defenses. Good garden sanitation, such as removing plant debris and weeds, also eliminates potential hiding spots and breeding grounds for many pests.
Physical barriers offer an effective, non-toxic defense. Floating row covers can protect young plants from flying insects and larger animals, while fencing can deter deer and rabbits. For slugs and snails, creating barriers of gritty materials like diatomaceous earth or crushed eggshells around plants can be helpful, as these materials are uncomfortable for their soft bodies to cross. Hand-picking visible pests, such as caterpillars, slugs, and snails, is a direct and immediate control method, especially for smaller infestations.
Attracting beneficial insects, like ladybugs and lacewings, can also help by introducing natural predators that feed on common pests like aphids and spider mites. In some cases, horticultural oils or insecticidal soaps can be applied, targeting pests directly while generally being less harmful to beneficial insects and the environment than broader chemical treatments.