# What eats rhubarb leaves?



## JustineInWA (Jan 23, 2010)

Something is eating my rhubarb plant leaves, but not touching the stalks. I don't see any bugs on the plants, and there's lot of other foliage to eat, so I'm not sure why the hungry critter is eating rhubarb. I thought rhubarb leaves were poisonous :hrm: My big, beautiful plants look so sad now!


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

I harvested my rhubarb a month ago and left the gigantic leaves underneath the plants as mulch. Next day, I glanced out my window and watched as the deer greedily gulped them down. (!!!)

I was surprised, too -- but the deer don't seem any the worse for wear (more's the pity). 

That said, I've never seen the deer eat the leaves directly off the plant -- only the discarded leaves. But we live in roughly the same neighborhood, so my guess is the miserable varmint deer. :hrm:


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## mustangglp (Jul 7, 2015)

Earwigs get in mine they come out at night.


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

I'm a neighbour of yours too, relatively (coastal PNW) and the only pests I've had get into my rhubarb has been the typical PNW slugs but they haven't done much damage. I didn't know deer would eat rhubarb leaves. Your question got me wondering about what other kinds of pests may do serious damage or eat rhubarb and I found this cool website called Rhubarb Central. It has tons of great info and helpful tips (plus recipes) about growing rhubarb, including a list of many pests. I never knew there was such a thing as the Rhubarb Curculio Beetle (a strange looking creature) or the Tarnished Plant Bug, both of which prefer rhubarb. I hope this is helpful:

http://www.rhubarb-central.com/rhubarb-pests.html


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## kisia (Nov 12, 2012)

Here we have Japanese beetles


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## shamp10 (Jun 20, 2016)

Japanese beetles are rampant right now.


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## JustineInWA (Jan 23, 2010)

Thank you for the replies! My guess is that deer are the culprit, due to the sheer amount of leaves that disappeared so quickly.


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