What is attacking my lobelia cardinalis

Evening folks,

Looking for advice as to what creature has been devouring my lobelia cardinalis and also will it recover or should I discard the plant?

 

They're very susceptible to snail and slug attack. The only way I can grow it is as a marginal pond plant.
It will recover if it's protected from further attack, but won't stand repeated defoliation.

 

Yes, I would say slugs and snails. Very hard to keep that type of perennial lobelia going, I'm afraid. Some grit or crushed eggshells round the base might be worth a try. Or maybe a slug collar. I've found copper mesh (not tape) works well, but only if there are no other plants nearby that can be used as a bridge.

 

I agree - absolute slug magnets. I had one many years ago beside my pond. It disappeared overnight, so it didn't even make it to a decent size. I gave up on it the following year because the same thing happened. I found other plants much better for the site, because slugs are an ongoing, perennial problem here.
It's a shame as it's a nice vertical accent, but if you like it enough, you can try the deterrents and see if any of them work. I don't find grit works at all for deterring slugs though.

I don't always find water stops slugs either @noisette47 . I even found one in the rain gauge this morning...

 

I don't think it's the fact of it being in water per se, @fairygirl, more the abundance of predators and perhaps the drying effect of the slabs around the pond.

 

I bought one a few weeks ago, surrounded it with grit, then an outer perimeter of coffee grounds, and a few slug pellets. Still eaten. I have now added a slug pub and hope it recovers.

 

The lengths we go to to thwart the little slimeys, eh?

 

I don't find anything really works effectively to deter slugs, other than picking them off and physically dispatching them, but they've been far worse than normal this year. I tend to avoid plants that are attractive to them - as far as is possible.
Our ground here is consistently damper, so slabs/gravel etc, are never dry for any great length of time. My current pond is surrounded by gravel, and that underlying clay soil suits things like l. cardinalis, but it wouldn't deter slugs, because they traverse the gravel quite easily. I can also grow plants which like drier sites there, but they're in the gravel itself, with barely any roots reaching much soil at any point.
Grit makes no difference at all, and they crawl up the walls of the houses - which are often rendered with fine gravel, and sometimes crushed shell. Our house round the corner had that, and they were often crawling over it.
I heard someone say yesterday to use porridge round plants, and they'll certainly eat any leftover bird food, but that's sacrilege to suggest it to Scots

I refuse to touch beer [for reasons I won't go into here] so there's no way I'd use that, but some people find it works.

 

I am convinced slugs and snails can absail.

 

Me too! I had visions of them coming in like a bunch of special forces yelling "hut, hut!" While mission impossible music plays...

 

Wah! Wah! Wah! Slime attack! Slime Attack! Slime Attack!

 

I have watched a slug climb up a plant and drop down onto something tasty below, so even avoiding leaf bridges is not foolproof. The thing you are protecting needs to be in a vegetation desert!

 

So they DO abseil!

 

Kinda more free fall. No bungee involved.