Topic: Strawberry leaves/top of plants being eaten/cut off

[Hector]

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???

[Ian Pearson]

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.

[Hector]

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.

[Digeroo]

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.

[Hector]

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 :)

[Digeroo]

What about Muntjac?  They are all over the place here,  haven't they arrived with you yet.

[squeezyjohn]

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.

[artichoke]

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.

[Ian Pearson]

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 :-)

[Hector]

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 :)

[Digeroo]

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.

[Hector]

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?

[Ian Pearson]

I'm pretty sure bluetits eat mostly insects and seeds, so I think they are innocent.

[Hector]

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".

[Digeroo]

When I was a child the blue tits would rip open the metal covers on the milk bottles and peck at the cream.   

[Robert_Brenchley]

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

[Hector]

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!

[strawberry1]

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

[Hector]

I wondered about that, but the plants came bare rooted?