Dahlia Perennial Plant

Can anyone advise what could be eating my perennial dahlia plant??.....there are large chunks eaten off the upper and lower leaves. The leaves at the base are turning yellow and the new buds coming out do flower but die very quickly! I'me feeding regularly but could anyone suggest a bug spray that I can buy from Tesco/B & Q that will kill whatever is eating my beautiful plant  many thanks for your help!

Dahlias suffer from two main pests-slugs will eat the soft growth and earwigs will eat the flowers-both can be dealt with quite easily

Slugs -put down some pellets or pick them off the plants after dark when they are feeding

Earwigs take an upturned flowerpot stuffed with straw or newspaper on the end of a cane-the earwigs can be found hiding in there -dispose as necessary-though they are not garden baddies

The yellow leaves are just old-is this plant in the garden or in a pot-you may be over -feeding and/or over-watering

It is a slugs favourite dinner, the best thing to do is go out and night and pick them off. 

No, I bought it this year and planted it in the ground. I'm not overfeeding, I think you might be right that they're just old leaves! I'll have a look tonight to see if there's any pests about! LOL! I'll get some slug pellets. A friend of mine gave me some spent coffee grounds which he says are good for feeding the soil around plants and also for controlling weeds. Would they be any help with the slugs also?

Coffee grounds for feeding-doubtful but am happy to stand corrected- also heard about as a slug deterent -again don't know-I never feed my dahlias-in the ground they don't need it in my opinion.

Ok thanks so much for your help and advising what could be eating my Dahlia, I'll give your advise a go!! x

Hi sotongeoff! Just had an inspection on my Dahlia and I believe I've found the culprit........snails!!!!!....just picked 7 tiny snails off different leaves on the plant and disposed of them rather violently I'm afraid LOL!....I am assuming the only way to treat these little buggers is picking them off the leaves or is there another deterrent??

If you scatter a few slug pellets about some will fall in amongst the leaves and on the ground-that will help

Glad you found a few of the culprits any way-I assume they are now in orbit or heaven