Diappearing Spinach
I started spinach seeds in peat pots and transplanted into the garden when they were an inch or two tall. They keep disapperaing? Not just drying up, dying, or anything like that, they just vanish like I never planted them. It's a fenced in garden so rabbits are not a possibility. Are birds eating them? I don't care too much as I was doing this as a test for next spring, but it is bugging the heck out of me. I really don't want to pull my trailcam out of the woods because I like seeing this falls "crops'" antlers grow. What can it be?
It might be birds, especially the corvidae ... crows, jays, etc. Another possibility is snails and/or slugs. But remember that rabbits and gophers can easily dig under fences. Also, I don't think there is any fence that is actually proof against mice, voles and rats, which can go over, under, or through them.
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731greener101
- Cool Member
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:36 pm
- Location: West Tennessee Zone 6b
Last year I planted spinach and was really looking forward to spinach omelets.I noticed that the sprouts were thinning dramatically.I laid in wait for the culprit.It didn't take long before he and she came to raid the patch.It was a male and a female finch.I promptly named them Heckle and Jeckle.They completely devoured the spinach even after I replanted.And guess who showed up in early spring to set on my fence to wait for me to plant again?I didn't replant spinach this year.After I get a small enough netting to cover the patch I will replant.I don't mind eating asparagus omelets.My money says they will be back next year.Greener
No snails here. I've gone out multiple times with a flashlight and never saw a slug, no gophers here and under the fence is wood that goes underground quite a bit, no holes. There are bluejays and finches around. I do think birds because it's not just overnight removals. I think most are in the morning.