Pests

[philcooper]

One of the great joys of gardening is preparing excuses for why it went wrong this year, well in advance.  :D

Mine so far are:

Mice ate all the broad beans in modules in the greenhouse so that's a 2 wek slip, while I resow. A mouse trap has, belatedly restored some sort of balance. Score to date: mice 50 broad beans - Phil 2 mice

Slugs, they're active already, in the greenhouse they've nibbled the dahlia cuttings and also had the fine leaves off some newly sprouting horseradish root cuttings - a few pellets (in the greenhouse and cold frame) and beer traps in the garden (2 big ones for £1.99 from the store for discerning gardeners - featured elswhere - Lidl)

Greenfly, first on the citting potato sprouts - removed with soap spray. Then the tomato seedlings - well sorted by liquid derris

Phil

[philcooper]

[terrace max]

Snails have moved in on my plot and are presently banqueting on my broad beans followed by some oriental greens I planted out last week.

This dull weather isn't helping - same again forecast all this week here in N. Yorks...

Not a good start!

[Sarah-b]

OK - I'll say this now, because probably by next weekend it will no longer be true:
Nothing has gone wrong on the plot this year!
Hooray aren't we doing well. That's one of the things I love about this time of year - it's all expectation and anticipation.

But I know the truth of it - all the disappointments, failures, and disasters are yet to happen!
But I'm sure there will be a couple of successes to make it all worthwhile...

sb

[Svea]

woodlice are having my radish babies before i can :(
what do you do about woodlice then?

oh, and slugs. there are a few about. should i start beer trapping already?

svea

[Dorthe]

For slugs I have found a very useful trap: Grapefruit halves.

First you eat the half grapefruit for breakfat, then put it out close to where the slugs like to feed. A few days later, go back and pick up the grapefruit and all the little slugs hiding underneath the cover.

I usually catch about 10 slugs under each grapefruit..

[aquilegia]

So far (touch wood):

A few whitefly on my lettuce. Not enough to panic over.

A few nibbled holes in my broad beans. Not much. I suspect slugs/snails.

A big chunk munched out of a rhubarb leaf. (aren't they poisonous?) I saw a butterfly on it, so I reckon it must've been the catepillar.

My brassicas, leafy things, etc are all well covered at the mo (only seedlings). But there's still plenty of time...

[derbex]

The birds got most of my Nov. Broad Beans, I've resown (under fleece) and the new ones are catching up well.

The slugs are up and about, but haven't caused much trouble yet. Peas in the gutter seem to be coming on after I soaked them before planting this year.

My biggest pest is likely to be lack of time, at least with the clocks going forward there might be a chance of getting down in the evening.

Jeremy

[Moggle]

Something has munched my indoor-sown then planted out peas. Really not sure what - could be slugs. Need to get down there and net ASAP in case it is the birds. Need to slug trap too  :-\

[Mrs Ava]

Pests to date for me.....something, we think Ducks, have chomped the growing point out of half my uncovered autumn sown broadbeans, but they are regrowing from the base.  Greenfly on my brassicas in the greenhouse - squished so little damage....hopefully.  Mice have munched some of my peas sown direct - 3 varieties!  Did have them covered with lots of twigs and mesh but they snuck in around the edges.  Hopefully the ones in the middle were left alone - will do a back up sowing in pots.  Huge snail made himself at home in the greenhouse and grazed off some of my sunflowers, lettuce, celery, and others but he was squidged just in time.

Time and space are my biggest pests.  I still have 2 lots of spuds (4 rows) to plant, noticed the  weed seedlings have sprung up around my onions and I need to clear my purple curly kale as I noticed it has started to run to seed.  Daughter number one of school today poorly, hoping to get to the plot tomorrow to catch up.

[aquilegia]

Echo EJ and Jeremy - time and space. Probably space mostly. Things get left too long before potting on/pricking out. Then I leave them in their bottle cloches too long so they get leggy. My Pickling onions and leeks haven't germinated (I think they've got too dry in the seed trays as I didn't realise how hot it got in my minigreenhouse.) And of course, everything has to be jammed in and probably doesn't get enough light. Oh well. we'll cope somehow.

I'm a pest. I admit it!

[philcooper]

EJ,

It could be mice

Phil

[Rose.mary]

The man whom I am sharing an allotment with came down today, and I asked him why I had only seen about 4 slugs and a few slugs eggs on the site. He said it was because he uses a flame gun on the weeds and soil. ::) I thought it was a bit drastic but if it works who cares ;D
Rosemary

[philcooper]

Flame guns are good if used carefully, by that I mean on newly emerging weeds on otherwise bare ground, paths, drives etc

Burning off well established grass and so on kills all the benficials and I'm not sure how it deals with slugs.

Phil

[redimp]

Has there ever been a study on the best beer to put in beer traps?  I have a couple of the Lidl ones too and am thinking of getting some more.

[Doris_Pinks]

I always go up the offie and ask for the cheapest! My slugs don't seem to have a preference! I never use lager though, OH just wouldn't permit that! ;D

[tim]

Phil - "EDIBLE PLANTS"??

I was about to comment, but then I thought 'how subtle'. You mean all your 'edible plants' that are consumed by these things??

[moonbells]

Has there ever been a study on the best beer to put in beer traps?  I have a couple of the Lidl ones too and am thinking of getting some more.

Yes there has. BBC GQT did a survey a couple of summers ago and the consensus was that the slugs preferred stout and real ale to lagers. So get yourself a can or two of stout and get ready for the slug party.
I've got the remnants of a polypin of real ale in my shed: it's gone off and would make any human drinking it rather ill, but it stinks enough to be good slug bait.

I hope.

moonbells

[philcooper]

You mean all your 'edible plants' that are consumed by these things??

It seems like it at this time of year but normally there is some left to eat for the family

The slug version of "edible" includes, of course, lots of the decoratives, dahlias, hostas and most herbaceous plants rasied from seed last year and being prepared for planting out soon

Phil

PS broad beans re sown in modules with baited mouse trap alongside

[Clayhithe]

My peas (sown outdoors in Jan) came through last week.

Something ate most of them this week.

Something (else) cut off the tops of several broad bean plants,  but didn't eat them.

[Merry Tiller]

I'm sorry but I can think of a far better use for real ale, slugs can have the foreign muck