I have had runner beans and french beans eaten off a few inches from the ground. Now the same with some carrot tops. My plot is well rabbit netted and the carrots are within a bed surrounded with fleece.
I can see no sign of rabbits getting into this area. I did think a rabbit must have got in whilst the gate was open, or a young one through a very small gap by the gate. However I can see no signs of droppings nor how it/the could have got into the fleeced area.
What else could this be. The plot is newly been returned to use this last 12 moonths so has plenty of slugs. Could it be them?
My other thought is mice as matting is being used by plotholders to kill weeds and mice thrive under it?
Any one of your pests that you've listed could have done it..but snails/slugs would have left the slimy trail as evidence..
do you think it could be pigeons that done it( if that's the only greenery available to them) especially this years young ones
The same has happened to me. Next to where I was growing dwarf French beans I have a thick patch of parsley growing. over the past few weeks my beans have slowly disappeared. I checked all the surrounding plants and a mouse shot out from beneath the parsley. I have seen a mouse a few times now so I am convinced it's mice eating the beans.
Duke
My healthy young climbing beans were bitten off to the ground recently, very depressing. Even a patch of radishes disappeared nearby.
Yes there are pigeons about but I have bird scarers to deter them. I am guessing mice as no evidence of slug trails by the beans. That is the first time I have ever had problems with beans ::)
Quote from: ipt8 on September 04, 2011, 19:32:42
Yes there are pigeons about but I have bird scarers to deter them. I am guessing mice as no evidence of slug trails by the beans. That is the first time I have ever had problems with beans ::)
Yep, sounds like mice, they are a real menace. The little b****rs got my sweetcorn last year >:( :( :'(
i will have to watch my crops theres loads of mice about the lotty
i have seen a mouse on my allotment - didnt worry ( happy to share ) all that - but tonight I went down after being away for 2 weeks and ALL my courgettes and sweetcorn ( low to the ground) are gnawed off and thrown around the allotment . I am not happy because now I am going to have to get rid of them and I am a vegi and dont do hurting animals - rasberry canes as my mum says !!!!!!
Mice and particularly voles are notorious for eating through the stems of beans. They also love beetroot and carrots at this time of year.
Voles! Our site is infested with the b****ers this year, and everyone's beetroot has been decimated with chewing. Carrots don't seem a target but it ate through one of my melons (and I only had 3 growing!!! waaaaah!).
If the beans are close to the ground they will chew up to where they can reach, they don't seem to climb.
Unfortunately they like mulch so a garden like mine is just a paradise. The cold may see them off or predators once the ground cover disappears. But they can breed in your compost over winter too.....
Our site needs a cat I think!!!