Something ate my spinach :(

I've got very young spinach in pots outside. 2 pots, long ones. Something ravaged the first container and left the other one alone. They're doing it at night. So I moved them where I thought they'd be safer and whatever it was got the other one last night.

I thought spinach didn't have too many enemies. I guess I'll have to replant.

They're eating it at night and it is not Popeye who's doing it.

Slugs? Snails? I'm interested in how this goes for you, because I am intending to grow container spinach as well as several other veggies. Mine will be up on a second floor deck, though, not on the ground, so I hope that will offer some protection!

If it is larger eaters getting in there, placing a cage of chicken wire over the plants could work: I had to do that in NC with all the young container plants I ever grew because the squirrels would get at them and destroy them, whether they ate them or not.

Rabbits?

Could be rabbits, I guess. We do have them around here. I should just plant them their own lettuce patch, if I thought that would make them leave my other stuff alone. It would probably just attract them in herds. LOL!

I did notice that one of the leaves had been "bitten" by something. They didn't bite it all the way off, but whatever did it made a straight cut across the leaf and left it hanging on there.

I've moved them on top of a wall where nothing can get them now, if it's rabbits or some type of leaf cutting bug that crawls on the ground.

I don't think it was slugs or snails.

Oh, we have squirrels, too. Do they come out at night? I thought they were daytime feeders.

Good question. In my situation they may have done the damage in t he early morning before I was up and about, LOL!

Hope putting your containers up there works. If it's rabbits that ought to work fine I expect.

Last year, I had some young tomato plants in pots, something nibbled them down to the nubbins. I figured they were goners, but I put them on top of a table and kept watering them. Ended up recovering nicely and got lots of tomatoes.

I think it must have been a rabbit. Also, I guess a rabbit got into one of my large plants, too, because I could see his little buck-toothed marks on a green tomato.

It must be the rabbits.

I think my spinach might recover, I'm going to give it a few days until I yank it to see what it does.

Our barking dogs keep things out of the yard, but the lazy beasts must have not heard them the past couple of nights. Little creatures like that don't make much noise, I guess.

rabbits know how to be quiet, get around, LOL!

Yes, the spinach will likely recover. If you cut it instead of pulling it, it will grow back.

Dig around in the top inch of soil and look for a caterpillar. I'm not sure if they're cutworms, but they come out at night and eat things like spinach, lettuce, pac choy.........then they hide in the soil during the daytime.

Thanks, Calalily, I was wondering if something might be lurking in my pots! I'll check it out as soon as it gets daylight here.

Thank you, L Tilton, the first batch that was chewed on was already looking better yesterday. I just snipped off the ones that were gnawed on.