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Square Foot Gardening

Something is eating my broccoli and lettuce

14 years ago

I have a 8X2 SFG on a 3rd story roof deck in Austin, TX and went out this morning to find that my vegetables had been eaten again. I built a 2' high chicken wire cage over the plants so I think I can rule out the squirrels. I was hoping that having it on the roof would alleviate a lot of these problems.

The plants are being eaten down to the stems.

Any thoughts on what is munching on my garden?

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Comments (2)

engineeredgarden
14 years ago
I would think mice, or caterpillars.

EG
spaghetina
14 years ago
Are you seeing roundish holes with clean borders? Or does it look like little teeth have been munching on your greens?

Cabbage moths (those white butterflies you see flitting happily around the garden... the ones that I used to LOVE and now run around yelling at...) will lay eggs on your brassicas, which broccoli is, and sometimes lettuce (from what I've read) and then the resulting caterpillars will voraciously eat through your leaves. The holes start out very small, a little larger than a pinhole, when the caterpillars are about 1/2 a cm long, and will get increasingly larger as they eat and grow. If you see a fresh hole, look closely around it and see if you notice a green caterpillar around it. They blend in amazingly well, but once you know what you're looking for, you can spot them more easily. When they get out of control in my yard, my collards end up looking like someone ate all the leafy parts and just left the ribs.
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EARWIG is often overlooked. Because they are snicky. They come out at night like slugs and snails but the are smart and run away and hide. They hide in similar fashion to slugs in the cracks, under rocks/stones, ...during the day. They eat much bigger holes than flea beetle. Also they start with the parts of the plants close to the ground(like slog/snail) while flea beetles eat the top most leaves. Of all these insects, slugs damage is more severe. A big fat slug can eat a whole seeding in one sitting. Another thing is that flee beetles love peppers and eggplant, tomatillo .... all in the nightshade family. FB damage is only critical when seedlings are very small and not when on the established plant. One more thing: Slugs have chewing/eating pattern similar to caterpillars. The will not usually eat in hole or circular pattern. This post was edited by seysonn on Wed, Nov 6, 13 at 5:53
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That's caterpillar frass. Have you not noticed that your plants have been munched on for several weeks?
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If there was also leaf damage then slugs would be my first guess. But without that then the lizards and/or turtles come first to mind as they are nibblers. Rabbits or groundhogs wouldn't stop with just a nibble. Squirrels and deer will also nibble. Dave
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Hi, re slugs - there are many low-cost home-made remedies such as beer, which work. but in case you don't drink - I used escar-go from "gardens alive" - had to spend money. :) but it worked like magic, 2 applications and they were gone and have not returned. it is safe for children pets and the environment. plus it's a very nice (if somewhat expensive) website. ellen Here is a link that might be useful: escar-go
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