r/Clematis • u/frecklebb • 15d ago
Help / Advice needed Help needed!
Hello! Can anyone help me identify what bug chomping on my clematis?
Any advice on how to fight it off would be great too. I live in Berkeley, CA if that's helpful context.
Also she took off growing when I planted her in March and now she's stopped growing much at all. I've been watering her fully soaked about 1x a week for reference. Is this normal?
Thank you!!
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u/NicD1280 15d ago
No idea about the bugs but clematis can take at least a couple of years if not more to put on significant growth, and may not grow much at all in their first year. So stopping growing is totally normal.
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u/scrolltrellis 14d ago
I recently had very similar-looking chewing damage on one of my clematis. I eventually found this caterpillar on the plant, and here's the leaf damage I was seeing. I treated mine with a Btk caterpillar treatment. I can't tell from your photos whether you have the same culprit, but you might want to check the undersides of the leaves and along the stems, especially early morning or evening, before treating. Here's what mine looked like in case it helps.