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Something is eating my plants!!

ELLIOTBELLIOTB Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
I had a number of 1m/3ft tall plants which have been eaten overnight and wonder what might be doing this. This is not a gradual destruction. We have a fox den in the garden so could it be them?  Could it be rodents or birds? The entire plants just vanish with just a piece of stalk left. This has occurred to a number of Brussel and Tomato plants. Courgettes plants not targeted...yet

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Foxes can cause a fair amount of damage, uprooting plants etc. but l have to say l have never heard of them eating tomato and brussel sprouts plants. That's not to say it can't happen of course! 
    Hopefully someone on here can confirm it.
    Any chance you can get hold of a trail camera? 
    PS Welcome to the forum  :)
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Rabbits?  
    Utah, USA.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Pigeons will strip brassicas. I don't know if they like tomatoes. Foxes do eat soft fruit but I have never heard of them taking an interest in veg.
  • ELLIOTBELLIOTB Posts: 3
    Thanks for the welcome, we're probably a little too urban for rabbits and never seen any signs of them.
  • ELLIOTBELLIOTB Posts: 3
    Pigeons! Ahhh, I think they could be likely culprits...see quite a few and research from the Internet seems they will eat my toms too! 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2020
    Pigeons don’t eat our tomatoes ... ive never known that in over 60years of gardening ... but they love brassicas and will strip a field of Brussels sprout plants as soon as look at them. 

     I would net all brassicas if I were you. We net ours with insect netting to keep the cabbage white butterflies off as well. 

    Another possibility is muntjac deer ... plenty of them in Herts, even the urban areas(I was born in Hitchin) they’ll eat anything including tomatoes. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    We have a lot of pigeons. They💩 on the tomatoes but havent eaten them so far.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Magpies will eat tomatoes, but they only eat the fruit, not stems. 
    Or have I misunderstood?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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