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What's eating my alliums?!!!
Helen-5
Posts: 5
I've noticed this morning that several of my alliums flower spikes have been chewed off at the base I'm devasted as I love alliums and I e been trying to grow them for years with little success they have literally just nibbled a few bites out of the base then left the plant for dead !! Any ideas what might be the culprit and how I can prevent it from happening again ?
0
Posts
Snails. Not a lot one can do about them, unless you put down the beer traps, water with nematodes or go out at night with a torch and catch them at it.
I agree the culprits are snails. I have noticed that they really go for some varieties and completely ignore others.
Thanks for your replies !!! I thought snails too but I've put down slug pellets and there are no bodies but I get the feeling whatever it is try them as a snack decide they don't like them then clear off leaving a broken flower stem !! I've put down chilli powder around them today (hopefully this won't damage them !!!??? ) to see if it's rodents we live near a brook and we do get some rats coming up and mice trying to eat my bird feed we also have a small wood behind us so we are plagued with squirrels - I do wonder why I bother sometimes !!
Doubt if it is mice or squirrels as Alliums are poisonous to most mammals [we are an exception] and the smell repels them.
Helen-5 I have had exactly the same problem and lots of discarded and half ripped leaves scattered around made me think it was squirrels too. I also put chilli powder down. It is so frustrating.