bertiefox
gardener
There's always tomorrow!
Posts: 236
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Post by bertiefox on Mar 14, 2012 4:05:08 GMT -5
I've grown early peas in the polytunnel every year for eight years without problems, but this year every pea seems to have been disturbed and dug up or after germination the shoot nipped off and left lying on the ground. I guess this is some sort of rodent, maybe what the French call a 'mulot'.
I don't like putting down poison or even trapping them if avoidable, so wondered if anyone has any ideas of what might be used to deter them? (We haven't got a cat I could lock in the tunnel over night unfortunately, as that would probably be the best solution!)
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 14, 2012 8:11:08 GMT -5
Very small gage chicken wire on top? Nipping the shoot off at ground level sounds like cutworms but not the digging up?? I usually go for exclusion when it comes to animals.
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Post by 12540dumont on Mar 14, 2012 12:52:43 GMT -5
I could rent you a cat. There's 2 new ones in my barn. However, 2 nights ago, I saw Thumpers in my field. Hares to the rest of you. Long legged things. My cabbage is being nibbled. And something grazed the peas. The polar cat, assisting the pussy willow here, is not allowed out after 9pm. At that time he has to put on his other hat and become a foot warmer. We have had good luck with Diatomaceous earth sprinkled around peas for insect eating things, but Ottawa is right about the wire for larger critters. Attachments:
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edwin
gardener
Posts: 141
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Post by edwin on Mar 14, 2012 21:04:02 GMT -5
Cut Worms grrrrrrrrrrrrr.  I bring out the jar of death for them. Kind of brownish - look like short fat caterpillars. They role up into a C when disturbed. |
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bertiefox
gardener
There's always tomorrow!
Posts: 236
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Post by bertiefox on Mar 16, 2012 2:27:02 GMT -5
Love the dog idea, but unfortunately our dogs both see the polytunnel as 'their space' and love to excavate the beds to see what's there! I think the fine chicken wire may be the answer except the little critters, whatever they are, seem to be coming out of small holes in the ground. I've poured water down them but that doesn't seem to have worked. I don't think it's cut worms because of all the digging activity. I only shallowly cultivated the beds before sowing so perhaps it would be a good idea to deep dig them again before sowing anything else. Thanks for the advice so far.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Mar 16, 2012 7:14:48 GMT -5
Vegetarian mammals are an incredible pain, being as small as we are and growing as many different crops we rarely have massive buildups of insect pests other than the summer flea beetle plague, but lots of trouble with meadow voles, cottontail rabbits, and whitetail deer. Finally started to get a good trapping regimen for the meadow voles in the winter hoophouses, its mostly a matter of figuring out the right trap location. Rabbits are harder, but a combination of stovepipes set with 110 bodygrip traps and a weekly walkthrough a few hours after dark with a LED headlamp and a .22 keeps them down to a dull roar I'm also still working on eliminating the piles of junk wood from the previous owner that are their major daytime refuges.
It also seems like the DEC officer I talked to most recently is a little more rational about giving out DMPs (Deer Management Permits) than the last guy so we may get a few more doe removed this summer which will be a big help. The ultimate will be when we can install a real deer fence but that can't happen until we've expanded the field out to where we want it. Deer fence is the opposite of portable.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 17, 2012 0:39:43 GMT -5
They don't like walking on the plastic. I use clear to solarize at the same time Does clear work better than black for solarizing? |
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Post by steev on Mar 17, 2012 1:26:17 GMT -5
Yes. Lets the sun in, heats the soil, fries the tender growth.
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I bring out the jar of death for them. 
