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What is Eating my Plants?
Unwelcome visitors in the kitchen garden…
Last year I wrote about the pitfalls of growing your own vegetables and this year I offer you photographic evidence. I do try and grow vegetables as organically as possible and with the minimum of fuss, time constraits allow little alternative choice. Every year I, along with countless millions of other frustrated gardeners face a herculian task against the would be assasins of the animal and insect world.
This year sees the turn of my broad bean plants, I have always grown these with no other problem than picking the full pods quickly enough. This year, disaster. Within two days of planting my finely raised specimens they had been dive bombed and left for dead…
Look at that, I was going to uproot them and sell them as a Swiss cheese plant 
Coming to terms with my sad loss I quickly planted some varietal summer squashes to lift my spirits. The weather was glorious, the beds freshly dug and everyone was happy. In go the plants, on goes the water, off goes the gardener….
Gardener comes back to Hammer House of Garden Horrors part two. This is now annoying, four feet away my brassicas are growing for England, not a cabbage fly in sight (famous last words)
So it looks as though the caterpillars and cabbage flies (pass the Derris powder) have won the battle but not the war, time to take stock of the situation and plan a fight back. On the bright side I’ve not seen a slug or snail for days. Famous last etc etc….
Miles
my broccoli was destroyed over a sustained period by white butterflies laying eggs and the resultant caterpillars ravaging the plants.
I had though about growing some again this year purely as a sacrifical plant and they did’nt go to any of my other crop.
May 11, 2008 @ 7:27 am
Miles,
Are you sure its pests and not Motorhead… they kill grass don’t they?
Either way my own new kale seeds are starting to show, so fingers crossed for second time around success. I shall plant them in different parts of the garden to see what happens but looking at my hostas, I think I know already that the gauntlet has been thrown.
Cid
May 11, 2008 @ 8:05 am
Miles,
That looks a sorry state of affairs and is so disheartening. I have planted radishes in 2 separate areas and the leaves are being eaten
I wonder what Gordon Ramsey would suggest?
Elsie
May 11, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
All,
Just finished giving everything a liberal dose of derris powder-that should keep the swines at bay
Miles
May 11, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Miles,
You must love your kitchen garden. I am afraid that I just have to put slug pellets around my plants, they have been eaten all too often.
Mind you, whatever has been getting to your lovely plants wants killing one way or another! I have heard that you don’t put plants back into an area where there have been some pests. Mind you, I would have thought that they just go off in search of where they can find food anyway. Perhaps you need to fight them with some sort of preditors or distracting type plants? Beats me, looks like you need expert advise!
Christine
May 11, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
Your plants just look generally unhappy, which can make them more susceptible to pests. Are they transplants? If so, that could be your problem.
If they were grown from seed and then took this hit, have you been watering them unevenly?
How balanced is your soil? Have you tested it? If it’s out of whack, this could be making your plants weak. Think about yourself when you’ve been missing some key vitamin or mineral — you too can get sick easier. Plants are no different…
Anyway, that’s my $0.02.
May 12, 2008 @ 3:05 am
Hi Miles
Hmmm, they don’t look very happy do they?
I think slugs are one of the culprits, so either beer traps (old margarine cartons with holes cut in the lid filled with an inch or to of real ale) if you chefs use margarine that is! Or slug pellets would control them.
Derris is a good thing to dust over transplants to protect them from pest that like to munch on new plants.
However adding some nice compost to the hole when planting would really help the plants settle into their new homes. Summer squash in particular love to be planted in soil on the top of a barrow load of manure put into the ground first, (big home - add manure - well rotted of course - return soil to to make mount vesuvius type mountain. Plant squash at the top.
The beans would I think be happier just sown where they will be cropped.
Hope these comments are of some use.
Doug
May 12, 2008 @ 10:52 am
Hello Doug,
Welcome to the site and taking the time to offer your advice, I do try and catch your radio programme when I am off and find it very helpful.
I have just given my brassicas a liberal shower of derris thankyou, they look very healthy but I don’t want to take the chance. As for the beans, I shall sow direct in future.
Thanks again Doug, it’s kind of you to bother.
Miles
May 12, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Miles,
Now I don’t want to put the cat among the pigeons so to speak but I gather old Derris has had some bad press recently due to possible health issues…. should we really trust it especially on fruit and veg?
Cid
May 12, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
Cid,
I have long been under the impression that it is a natural repellent, I’ll look into it.
Miles
May 12, 2008 @ 9:07 pm