OK OK, so we dealt with the bolting broccoli by steaming and eating what we could (yum) and hoping for the best with the last few plants. But wait a cottin picking minute. Now some little critter over the last few weeks has been diggin up my corn seedlings just to chew off the baby roots. Whaterver it is digs a little hole about the size of a golf ball at the base of the seedling (about 2" deep) and eats off the white root part and leaves the rest of the seedling lying dead on the mulch like so much corn carnage. The little rascal ate his way down the rows and destroyed about 6 plants or so. Not nice!!! The first time it happened I just used some of the doubled up seedlings to refill the empty spots, but hey, this aint a salad bar. This means war!!!! Uhhhh........anyone know what is doing this? At first I thought bird, but now I'm leaning towards squirrel. Any takers?
Bolting Broccoli to Corn Carnage!!!
Voles! I've had them eat some rhizome buds off a newly planted bamboo (although they didn't do too much damage to the woody rhizomes), and attempt to eat the corms of one of my Jack in the Pulpits (although I think the critter realized, as soon as his snout touched the corm that they are highly toxic, which Is why my Jack in the Pulpit still lives). The best control I've found for these pesky critters is cats... Our cats catch and eat voles with relish, although a mousetrap might work.....
i have voles and moles. i plant my bulbs in those plastic containers you get strawberries in. it helps. don't know what you could use for corn seeds maybe a tight metal chicken wire or something. also be careful. i believe voles are venomous and they are very mean when cornered
I doubt voles are venemous, otherwise our cats would be dead by now, since they eat at least 4-8 voles a week.... You could try setting mousetraps around your corn, and baiting them with sliced carrot or something like that....
hnmmmm i will investigate. thanks
Try cayenne pepper, too! Once they put their tiny paws to their mouth it will give them a serious but non-fatal reaction.
bloodmeal lines around the corn rows, but you have to refresh it when it rains this weekend...
Some critters get used to not going near where they smelled the blood meal but, of course, with rabbits every generation has to be taught!