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whats eating my beetroot

any suggestion on what could be eating my beetroot from underneath . leaves still their when I dig them up just shell of the beetroot left it has been eaten from underneath

Posts

  • waterbuttswaterbutts Posts: 1,242

    Snails?Slugs?

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Yes, sounds like slugs to me.  A night visit with a torch should catch them red-handed.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657
    Was that an intended pun Bob
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Yep - forgot to add the smiley!

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Would slugs and snails leave teeth marks?  Just gone to gather some for lunch and I have the same problem.   Our cat has been catching baby bunnies recently but the spinach and beetroot foliage is untouched.  They do appear to have grooves in what is left though.  stevie65

  • I know the slugs have been big this year, but to leave teeth marks?!  Is the damage above ground or below? Why I ask is that mice and rabbits etc will be above, but vole damage can be from below as they can dig to reach food underground. They'll be healthy, anyway, with all those anti-oxidants. Good for the kestrels and barn owls. 

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,349

    I have veggies growing in raised (2' high) beds surrounded by hard landscaping. I'm pretty sure I have voles living in the same beds (tell tale little holes regularly appear throughout the summer). A few of my carrots & beetroot are gnawed from below so I have to discard those vegetables. The beetroot are indeed gnawed so that just a shell of skin is left. I have a slight problem with slugs but I'm sure this damage is down to voles.

    If I start losing an unacceptable percentage of produce I will have to resort to traps etc. but, for the moment, I'm accepting the odd loss.

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • Can't be voles, we don't have them in Australia, but I have just had the same problem. Went to water and found every beet leaf severed and flat on the ground. Dug around and could find not a trace of a beetroot, yet the day before there was definitely a beet top to be seen. 

  • granmagranma Posts: 1,931

    This happened to my beetroot a few years ago,I was told by a neighbour that it was voles  

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