Shredded broccoli

[caroline7758]

My broccoli plants have been very badly eaten- by slugs or birds, not sure which. When water is at a premium, I'd like to know whether there is any point watering them, i.e. do they have any chance of recovery? Sorry, no pic, but the stems are intact and the plants are about 8" tall, but the leaves are skeletal!

[caroline7758]

[bennettsleg]

My broccoli plants have been very badly eaten- by slugs or birds, not sure which. When water is at a premium, I'd like to know whether there is any point watering them, i.e. do they have any chance of recovery? Sorry, no pic, but the stems are intact and the plants are about 8" tall, but the leaves are skeletal!

Sound just like mine: thought it was the pesky wildlife!

[Robert_Brenchley]

They've got loads of time, and I generally find that brassicas are pretty good at recovering from this sort of attack as long as there's something left to recover!

[tim]

I got hell from Wife for pulling all ours out last year. She said we would have got something had we waited! It just looked such a mess!!

[caroline7758]

Ok, I'll give them a reprieve! just didn't want to waste precious water!

[greenstar]

All of our PSB and sprouts were completely shredded by pigeons.  They've been under a net now for 3 or 4 weeks and  are looking fantastic, although the sprouts are now covered in aphids!

[caroline7758]

When I went down last night they were looking better, but also covered in whitefly. Another related question- is there a point at which it is safe to remove netting, or is it best to keep it on until harvest? If the latter, I'll have to put in some longer supports!

[supersprout]

I had to raise the mesh after late September on legs, with rubber bands. By then the c/whites were gone, so it kept the birdies off.

[katynewbie]

 8)

Beautifully ironed nets SSprout! Getting coat on now...

;)

[redimp]

My spring cabbages turned into summer cabbages after they were decimated by pigeons - having one for tea tonight.

[supersprout]

Beautifully ironed nets SSprout! Getting coat on now...

ROFL!
;)