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Strawberry plants uprooted.
violon340
Posts: 25
in Fruit & veg
Hi everybody. I wonder if someone could offer me some advice? A little while ago I planted out some strawberry plants. They seemed to be growing happily and healthy. This evening I went out to do some watering and found that about half of the plants had been very neatly dug up and laid to the side of the remaining hole. I don't have pets, but I do see the occasional fox. Could this be the answer? Thanks in advance for all your help.
0
Posts
Could be a blackbird digging for grubs, although they're not usually that neat.
Hedgehog? They seem the tidiest creature in my garden.
Do you have small children?
Squirrels ripped mine out early in the year and ate the top fleshy part just as they were beginning to grow and left just the roots laying on the top of the soil but they haven't bothered with them for a couple of months now.
Small grandchildren, but they're not due here until the school hols'. I think the answer here is to cover them (the plants - not the grandkids) in nets straight away. I did saw some small holes in the fencing to enable access for Hedgehogs so that could be it. You live and learn.
Hedgehogs are carnivores so I don't see why they would be suspects unless the roots are being eaten by vine weevils. Have a dig around in the soil and see if you can find any C shaped grubs which may be whatever did this are really after. If you find any they have done you a favour as vine weevils will eat all of the roots and you'll be left with just dead strawberry tops!
And the same is true of small birds. It is safer to put stones around the plants - if it's a small animal or bird, it won't shift the stone, and if it's larger, it won't hurt itself, either.