I lost the first two plantings of vine crops to slug damage. One night, I went out with a flashlight to find 11 tiny slugs on one two inch leaf. Even though I handpicked and squashed them, the plant did not survive the attack. The first planting of cucumbers did not germinate, so I resowed. When they all germinated, I decided to transplant half of them to another section of the garden. Last night, I was out there 3 times picking and squishing..This morning most of them look desperate. It's only the one section of garden space that gets the most shade that is the problem. Crop rotation and less leaf mold next season hopefully will solve my problem. Egghead, I hope your second sowing is more successful than the first.

I don't think it'd be snakes if they left part of it...they swallow stuff hole. Depending on the size of the tadpoles might also be raccoons. We were losing stuff in a tub garden once and found out we had an infestation of crayfish in it that were fishing to their little heart's content...we think they crawled over from the big retention pond across the street when it dried up and took up residence in the tub garden. They will eat anything they can catch

I'm not sure where to begin here........:-) 1) Foliar 'feeding' is extremely inefficient. Plants absorb the bulk of their nutrients via their roots. I doubt molasses sprayed on foliage provides any significant nutrient benefit as any natural/organic product has to be digested/assimilated by soil organisms before it becomes converted to a plant accessible form (a soluble salt, just as any other synthetic fertilizer presents). 2) Molasses can be a microorganism stimulant but not much in the way of a fertilizer. 3) Epsom salts is only of benefit if you have a magnesium deficiency, otherwise it does nothing for plants - it doesn't control pests; it doesn't control diseases; it doesn't make your plants any healthier or grow bigger and better. 4) We already addressed foliar feeding so spraying milk on your plants is not particularly helpful.........unless you have certain fungal issues. Milk contains lactic acid which alters the surface pH of plant foliage so that it is not hospitable to the development of powdery mildew spores. It also has anitbacterial properties that can be beneficial. But providing calcium just by spraying??? Nope!! Plants cannot process materials like molasses and milk in the same way that humans or other mammals can. If you poured the milk on the ground around the plant you might get some nutrient benefit but there are far more inexpensive methods to accomplish the same thing. 5) Neem oil is NOT a fertilizer!! It is an organic or natural pesticide but it has NO nutrient value. Its mode of action as a pesticide is to disrupt hormones which can have numerous implications - inability to mate or lay eggs, inability of insect larvae to moult or metamorphize, disruption of the digestive system. And it can smother soft bodied insects and act as repellant against some insect pests (grasshoppers and caterpillars in particular). It also has fungicidal properties but is of no value as a fertilizer. 6. The last two statements don't even make sense - does potassium contain blackstrap molasses and other nutrients and minerals?? Or is it the other way around?? In either case, neither is very accurate. Potassium is just potassium and molasses is pretty darn low on the plant nutrient scale, only providing 8% K, 12% Mg, 4% Fe and 4% Ca. Many other far less expensive and much better and broader sources of plant nutrients available with other organics. This is the Internet and all sorts of dubious sources publish all manner of nonsense that gets passed around and accepted for fact but before you repeat all that hokum it makes sense to research where it is coming from. Anecdotal reporting has no basis in science and is really not valid, although it can make for some entertaining reading. Look instead to science based websites - the extension service .edu websites or published scientific papers are a great place to start.

It could be snails too. They leave 'trail' behind. Squirrels, rats or chipmunk will take baits and you can often see teeth marks. Birds usually leave holes. I have chipmunks that do damage, and perhaps even voles or field mice. If snails/slugs, best is to pick them (at night, with a flashlight...) For others, not much you can do. Supply drinking water (I see you have some). Perhaps some caging - but holes would have to be very small. I have few birg cages that I put over some shrubs that get eaten by rabbits during winter. Just curious: is that saucer in 2nd pic full of water?