Protecting flower buds from pests?

[nimbulan]

I'm having a new experience this year. Out of the 7 flowers growing in my sarracenia pot, two have disappeared shortly after emerging from the rhizome, apparently eaten by a pest of some sort. I haven't seen any slug slime near the plants and it seems too early in the year for caterpillars so I'm at a loss. What does everyone do to protect their plants from this problem?

 

[DJ57]

Sometimes you don't see slug slime from baby slugs. I had this problem once and could not figure it out (no slime and too early for caterpillars), so went out at night with a flashlight and sure enough a bunch of tiny little slugs were munching away at newly emerging sarracenia growth. The slugs were actually hatching out in the pots and I found slug eggs in the bale of peat I had been using. I put a few "pet-safe" snail bait pellets around the plants as well as around the base of the pots and that took care of the problem. If it is not slugs and you can't see any pests during the day, you might be surprised at what you find lurking around your plants outside by going out at night with a flashlight.

 

[pearldiver]

A couple of years ago, I had a veritable invasion of tiny slugs. I eventually gave up on soaps and the organic methods and went with a brute force granular pesticide. I would find fifty or more on one plant, strip them off and come back ten minutes later to find the same. Only happened one time. I do prefer the one with iron phosphate or whatever it is.

 

[nimbulan]

I'll have to remember that. I think the rest of the flowers are big enough that they won't get eaten but I'm out of luck for Dana's Delight and rubra flowers this year.