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Is there anything other than slugs would cause damage? 16 out of 20 eaten overnight. No slug trail and slug pellets ignored. Tomato seedlings ignored. Would mice go for them? any other insect? They were at the 2 true leave stage.
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Hi Mark and welcome.
Some of my seedlings in the GH have disappeared overnight and I'm blaming mice as they'd also dug up some seedlings. -
With number of seedling missing, I would have expected to see a big slug somewhere or at least some slime and a little nibble of the slug pellets. everything else is untouched - toms, lettuce, peppers ... but Cauli/Kale/Cabbage all eaten to base - no digging though.
I'll try some mouse traps may be. Will need to get more staging I thinkComment
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It's usually slugs with me even when I can't find the culprit. I don't find they ever eat toms but they do usually go for the others though.
Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.
Which one are you and is it how you want to be?Comment
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I am finding the mice love beans, brassicas, curcubits and everything EXCEPT tomatoes.
Having said that, I know it's mice because a) I caught one and b) the huge amount of mess they leave as they dig frantically for seeds. They uproot my chillis and leave them to die on the staging, dahlias too.
But yeah, they seem to be leaving tomatoes alone.
Are you finding soil strewn about?Comment
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No Soil disturbed at all. Think it must be slugs but usually you see a bit of a trail at least. It's just the number of seedlings gone. 16 in one tray of 20 and 10 in another and no slug pellets touched. Must be a super slug.Comment
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I have lost whole trays of seedlings before, and like you no sign of anything. Marigolds are a favourite with the slimy beasts- except the stalks - they leave them for me!Comment
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Found the culprit
There was digging in other trays but caught a rat in a trap.
I did set some mouse traps to see if there were any. These went off but nothing caught so suspected a rat. I caught 1 in a rat trap so unlikely will catch any more so am clearing all hiding places near the greenhouse to try to discourage them - a bit difficult as they likely like under sheds/inside composters/in wood piles. Also, clearing a lot of undergrowth removes habitat for a lot of other insects/birds.Comment
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