What needs a bird net/cage?

myclayjungle · May 2021

I plan on building or buying a bird cage for my raspberries and strawberries, but what else needs protecting? Chillis, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes? Is it just soft fruit that need protection?

Obelixx · May 2021

Soft fruits and brassicas and some lettuces in my experience.

Pigeons will peck brassicas to bits and cabbage whites will lay their eggs on them so we grow ours under insect mesh which is finer than fruit cage mesh against birds and we use hoops to hold up the nets. Your bird cage mesh needs to be fine enough to keep out birds but not so fine it keeps out pollinators like bees, wasps, hoverflies. Best to use a square mesh that can be stretched tight without deforming. The softer diagonal netting can deform and trap birds by their feet or heads.

Dovefromabove · May 2021

As well as protecting our brassicas from birds and butterflies, I’ve found that the wood pigeons around here like lettuce and Swiss chard. 😠

myclayjungle · May 2021

Thanks both. I'm not planning bassicas this year, but some great info re the actual mesh. I also need it hedgehog safe

Obelixx · May 2021

You'll have to put some sort of passageway in for them. Maybe a bit of pipe so they don't get net caught in their spines?

Nanny Beach · May 2021

Thought y were building a birdcage,!,,oddly enough the pigeons don't eat stuff,have caught small birds raking around and disturbing onions. We have s fruit cage for Raspberry, blueberry, gooseberry why don't the birds eat the BlackBerry,or blackcurrant. Strawberries are on high planter out of the way of slugs soft netting thrown over when needed. Hubby made a wooden frame covered in fine netting which goes over the brassicas

What needs a bird net/cage?

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