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Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
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Topic: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off (Read 7940 times)
Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
on:
April 10, 2014, 19:52:08 »
Lost eleven plants in two nights :(
It doesn't seem to be slugs as the leaves are. Not nibbled...it's more a case of them being halved/chopped off or totally gone.
I've put out pet safe slug pellets but don't think it's them.
what do you think it could be ....and can the plants grow back???
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Jackie
Ian Pearson
Acre
Posts: 373
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #1 on:
April 10, 2014, 20:14:08 »
Rabbits will eat strawberries early in the year. I also have my suspicions about pigeons. Anyway, I find it tends to stop by late spring. If the crown of the plant is still there, it will grow back.
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #2 on:
April 10, 2014, 20:27:18 »
Thanks Ian, that gives me some hope. we have two HUMUNGOUS pigeons my husband feeds twice a day........
if it is them, would putting string with cd's on them put them off.
according to hubby, it seems worse overnight...so maybe rabbits? In saying that, I think he is in denial it can be the pigeons.
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Jackie
Digeroo
Hectare
Posts: 9,578
Cotswolds - Gravel - Alkaline
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #3 on:
April 10, 2014, 21:25:50 »
Deer really lover strawberry leaves. Though ours stop once we get more active on site and there are other things around to eat. They come at dawn.
I have never had a problem with pigeons eating strawberry leaves.
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #4 on:
April 10, 2014, 22:08:01 »
wow, deer! As much as I love them, I'm glad we don't get them in our garden, We are rural but bunnies, pheasants, pigeon, squirrels, badgers and hedgehogs are our limit :)
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Jackie
Digeroo
Hectare
Posts: 9,578
Cotswolds - Gravel - Alkaline
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #5 on:
April 10, 2014, 23:11:47 »
What about Muntjac? They are all over the place here, haven't they arrived with you yet.
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squeezyjohn
Hectare
Posts: 1,022
Oxfordshire - Sandy loam on top of clay
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
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Reply #6 on:
April 11, 2014, 09:18:57 »
Definitely some kind of grazing animal! The leaves must be absolutely delicious to them because they all seem to go straight for them in the spring. The deer did a fantastic job of tidying up my strawberry plants this winter.
Last year a couple of the lambs from the farmer's field behind us got through to our garden and massacred every strawberry plant in the garden! They didn't go for anything else that I noticed.
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artichoke
Hectare
Posts: 2,276
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #7 on:
April 11, 2014, 11:13:47 »
I am pretty sure it is muntjac that have eaten off the top of some radishes I was growing for the seed pods, also some borage I grew from seed for bees etc - sliced off across the top. I have not noticed any strawberry attacks. At first I thought someone interfering had come onto my plot, disapproving of plants going to seed, and was a bit upset.....but someone pointed out the stalks were chewed rather than cut.
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Ian Pearson
Acre
Posts: 373
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #8 on:
April 11, 2014, 20:02:10 »
Hector, I just noticed today that damage to one of my bed of strawbs has stopped while the other bed is still being browsed. This could be due to the fact that I applied neat urine to the plants. Perhaps you would like to repeat the experiment to confirm the findings :-)
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #9 on:
April 11, 2014, 20:51:55 »
Ian.....my husband insisted on reading this as he suspected I was pulling his leg. We will try this as I don't want to lose more :)
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Jackie
Digeroo
Hectare
Posts: 9,578
Cotswolds - Gravel - Alkaline
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #10 on:
April 11, 2014, 21:43:12 »
I was also going to suggest a bit of territory marking. You need to reapply every time it rains. They do not seem to like the smell of blood fish and bone either.
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #11 on:
April 12, 2014, 13:10:37 »
Digeroo...I'm happy for my husband to "christen" the plants....but would have to check his insurance before considering a blood sacrifice.
Silly question....would bluetits do this type of damage.....whenever I go over to plot a wee flock of what looks like them flutters up off the soil?
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Jackie
Ian Pearson
Acre
Posts: 373
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #12 on:
April 13, 2014, 18:57:38 »
I'm pretty sure bluetits eat mostly insects and seeds, so I think they are innocent.
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #13 on:
April 13, 2014, 20:48:09 »
I know...it would seem highly unlikely....it might not have been bluetits...similar size with a flash of white in tail as they (two/three) took flight. I don't expect to see them on the ground either. Need to wear glasses in garden.
Good news is some signs of other wee leaves coming through. They have been "christened".
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Jackie
Digeroo
Hectare
Posts: 9,578
Cotswolds - Gravel - Alkaline
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #14 on:
April 13, 2014, 21:36:20 »
When I was a child the blue tits would rip open the metal covers on the milk bottles and peck at the cream.
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Robert_Brenchley
Hectare
Posts: 15,593
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #15 on:
April 14, 2014, 21:51:33 »
I remember that as well. They learnt that a nutritious meal awaited inside. That wouldn't apply so much to leaves, though.
http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/blue-tits-and-milk-bottle-tops
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Birmingham UK
http://thisandthat-robert.blogspot.com/
Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #16 on:
April 24, 2014, 16:54:13 »
come back from camping and half my strawberry plants are gone :( Can't be grazing animal as before we went I used old guinea pig run to cover. odd thing is that the ones who are doing well are thriving...but others totally gone!
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Jackie
strawberry1
Hectare
Posts: 630
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #17 on:
April 25, 2014, 10:18:54 »
my strawberries were `nibbled` and then one completely died and to my horror, the bag was teaming with vine weevils. I did not recognise the nibbled leaves until too late. Their roots have all gone but I have replanted in new compost and used vine weevil nematodes. Might be worth having a good look in the soil. The nibbling was caused by the adults and the vine weevil grubs have done their worst
«
Last Edit: April 25, 2014, 10:21:38 by strawberry1
»
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Hector
Hectare
Posts: 1,868
Re: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off
«
Reply #18 on:
April 25, 2014, 15:04:43 »
I wondered about that, but the plants came bare rooted?
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Jackie
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