Pea munchin' pests

[Icyberjunkie]

Last one for today then I'll leave you all in peace!   Have planted mange toute (delikett) and peas (sugarsnap) next to one another and while the mange toute are now about 12inches high the peas keep getting eaten, by something and are struggling to break 1 inch high.   Have put large size mesh and slug pellets round them both with no improvement.   Anyone got any ideas?     Iain

[Icyberjunkie]

[Doris_Pinks]

Keep asking Iain, someone will always answer! 
Birds like peas, can they sit on the mesh and peck em? (they did this to my ripe strawbs last year! >:(  ) DP

[Icyberjunkie]

They possibly could Doris but I cast that aside because why only the pea plants andnot the mange tout?  They are literally in the same row with just 12 inches between one type and the other.

[Doris_Pinks]

They seem to prefer my peas to my mange touts as well!! I have no idea why ???  I have to protect the peas always, but leave my mange touts to their own devises re: the birds.....but the slugs seem to like both :-\

[cleo]

I think Tim may have given us the answer-wire mesh. Bent over at first to protect the young plants and then used as a support.

[Irish Eyes]

Just an idea but if the leaves are being eaten around the outside it may be pea weevil. This is my first year of allotmenting and my peas were getting attacked. It seemed to happen when they were young. They continued to grow and as the got bigger they seemed to turn out okay. They are noe flowering and I've spotted the first pods this weekend.

[Justy]

I too had this problem and the answer was pea weevil.  It makes little munch marks round the leaves (I wondered at first if it was the way the leaves should be as they were so regular).  Once the plants get bigger the problem goes away and the plants carry on as normal (in fact mine are starting to pod now and they looked very sorry for themselves a few weeks ago).

[Icyberjunkie]

Thanks for that.  From your descriptions pea weevil sounds probable for the munching is very regular little half circles all round the outside of the leaves.  Is there any cure or is it just a case of crossing my fingers and hope they grow through it?