I did a search, and I’m not sure that anyone has had this problem. I now have 423 seedlings, thanks to the fast action of the calcium nitrate–or at least I thought I did. About 4-5 days ago, I checked on the growth of the mid- Dec. germinations, and was shocked to see that 3-4 flats of seedlings were missing most of their seedlings. There were a few (4-5) that still had stems intact, there were a few semi-shredded cotyledons scattered in a couple pots, and there were quite a few decapitated stems laying on top of the soil. These are flats of 16 pots ea., so this is not a huge amount.
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One of the funniest (funny strange)things is that in one flat all the seedlings were decapitated except for two albinos (middle photo). The bird was going for chlorophyll? Could it smell the difference? These were quite young seedlings, and they are outdoors, and they do not grow much in a week to ten days in this weather. I have had big problems with the Lesser Green Finch in the spring with peppers and sunflowers, but in the last 4 yrs no problems other than rodents. But that was easily solved by raising the flats and using sch 40 PVC-no rodent can climb that. I usually keep the cat indoors when the birds are foraging in the AM, but this week actually fed her outdoors in the AM- maybe I’m over reacting, but the finches drove me crazy with their insistence in decimating the sunflowers. Any ideas on what (almost sure it is a bird) could be eating these? Greenhouses are looking better and better, even here in Southern Ca.
Ouch! That hurts! I’m sorry Jackie! That’s why I’ve always raised my seedlings under hardware cloth, either metal or the plastic replacement. I never considered bird problems once germinated. For raw seed, sure, but not once it sprouted. I did figure there would always be squirrel or other rodent issue, though.
Before getting a greenhouse I tried germinating seeds outdoors. I had many newly sprouting seedlings that had been pulled up by what I presumed to be a bird looking for worms. They weren’t eaten but just all pulled up lying in the dirt to dry in the sun. That and a couple of other disasters is what prompted me to get a greenhouse.
The birds do a lot of damage that other critters sometimes take the blame for. I couldn’t keep blooms on my red impatiens because they kept pulling the flowers off the plants. I thought it was the squirrels until I saw the robins pulling at the plants. I’d keep the trays covered in some way to keep the birds out. They do make a bird netting that works pretty well on my strawberry patch.
Been there. I thought it was snails/slugs or some rodent eating the flowers off the polygonum ground cover out front until I watched a female robin eating them.
These are definitely birds-I guess I haven’t had this problem previously because my seedlings were just starting to germinate in mid to late January and when I had quite a few seedlings, it was already March or April and they had left the area already. My guess is that it is a robin-they love to winter here, and they are quite the brassy birds, always chasing the smaller birds out of the bird bath, etc. Since they mostly attack the flats on the end, next to the bushes, I have put the varieties with an over abundance of germination, next to them. But they love to just pull out rooted (some well rooted) seedlings, and they do seem to eat the tips of the newly planted sprouts. If I wasn’t so overloaded with seedlings I might be more upset, but right now it looks like seedling population control. Ahh, nature!! I will be forced to use bird netting soon, so I might as well bite the bullet and get it. I do not want them to attack more desirable seedlings before they decide to finally go back north.
Ahh yes, I remember one sunny April day in 1999 when I moved a flatful of rose seedlings outside to enjoy a warm bit of fresh air. I left the flat in the dappled sunlight while I made myself some lunch. It soon became apparent I wasn’t the only one having lunch right then: I came back 30 minute later to see a Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) yanking out one of the last seedlings left in the flat, out of about 35 or 40. I never made that mistake again, I assure you. Seedlings are now protected by 1/4" wire mesh cage until they reach the stage where they get moved into 3" pots (minimum two true leaves present), at which point the birds have their sights on tastier stuff and largely leave my stuff alone. Effing Towhees.
Not the Towhees! They live here yr around and have never done this before. But I did move most of the seedlings this yr., and some of them are not close to the house. They are all over the place, and I just did a pulled label count-they have been a bit worse than I thought. I am making 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth covers for most of the flats. The ‘bird netting’ just wouldn’t work without a frame for each flat, and then having to secure it. They are already leaving most of them alone just with about 25% covered.
You see, I’ve never had that issue with birds because I’ve always had to cover the seeds with screen of some sort to prevent squirrels, rats and mice from either eating the seed, digging up the seedlings or stealing the labels. That’s why there have been some I couldn’t decisively state parents for as rodents got into the seedlings and TOOK the labels. I found many of them in rats nests at the old garden. It seems I am cursed to always raise seedlings on the edges of the chaparral where there are critters who LOVE everything I attempt to raise.
I initially built slump stone planters with hardware cloth bottoms and tops, then went to fir board tables, like boxes on saw horses, also with wire and screen bottoms and hardware cloth tops to permit leaving them on all the time. Water, air and light get in easily, but the vermin can’t!