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What`s eating my marigolds?
young codger
Posts: 543
Last week I put about 30 marigolds in a border along the lawn. Something has eaten 11 of them down to the stalk. The ones that are left appear to be all ok. I have inspected some of them with a magnifying glass and cannot see any insects on them.
Could the problem be mice, rats birds or something else?
???
0
Posts
slugs and snails at the top of my list
In the sticks near Peterborough
I'm with Nut. They have chomped many of my plants to stalks over night!
Out with the torch tonite yc, collect them up and stomp them
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks guys for the prompt replies. Torch ready! (Bird food in the morning)
As soon as I saw the headline I thought 'slugs and snails'. Other possible is caterpillars but they seem to leave well alone.
Don't forget to put a lid on or they'll all be gone
In the sticks near Peterborough
Update:
Went in the garden after dark creeping along the border with a torch on two damp nights. (Normal behaviour for me according to the young woman who lives on her own next door).
Managed to find (mostly) slugs and one or two snails on both nights. I have since put down quite a few slug pellets. All may be ok now, but was also thinking of putting a line of salt along the edge of the border. Is this a good idea, in respect of that the salt will eventually enter the soil when I next dig the border over?
I`m not sure what effect salt has on plants, but I heard that where sand is concerned we should always use horticultural sand (as opposed to building sand) due to the salt content. Any thoughts?
Salt is a really good weed killer,I use it for weeds such as dandelions in paving cracks, I wouldn't use it near plants as it will kill them. In any event some slugs actually live in the soil. Try putting slug pellets, just a few, in a jar on its side or even better a slug beer trap. This is kinder to wild life in general, encourage birds with a scattering of sunflower hearts and any blackbirds will happily gobble up slugs. I recently sowed some annual poppies protected the area with raised netting to keep the birds off, felt pleased as seeds germinated now almost all have disappeared probably to the slugs...oh well!
Ok, I will try the pellets in a jar on it’s side. How does the beer trap work? Is it basically an "almost" empty beer can on it’s side , similar system to the pellets in a jar?
Slugs or birds.