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To net or not to net??

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  • To net or not to net??

    After growing fruit and veg in my garden for the last few years I have never had to net anything apart from fruit to protect them from birds and onion set sets to stop crows picking them out, never netted any greens and never had a problem.
    This year I have got half a plot to work and the pigeons are apparently a big problem, upto now I have got kale, winter and summer cabbage, broccoli and spuds planted all of which are netted apart from the spuds.

    Will I need to net my sweet corn, leeks and onions (from seed) or will the birds not bother them?
    I was hoping to get my corn in tonight if I can but won't have time if I have to net them as well.

  • #2
    I don't net sweetcorn, although I do have to put some string and canes around the bed, to keep them fairly upright on my windy plot!

    I do net my leeks but with enviromesh to protect from leek moth/allium leaf miner, the birds didn't bother them in the past.

    The birds only bothered onion sets when first planted, so I just used to lay some netting over them until they were rooted, the birds left alone after that.

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    • #3
      As Thelma with the exception of fencing the sweet corn to stop the ruddy foxes from playing on the bed and wiping the corns out
      sigpic
      . .......Man Vs Slug
      Click Here for my Diary and Blog
      Nutters Club Member

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      • #4
        I don't bother netting Sweetcorn or Aliums.
        What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?
        Pumpkin pi.

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        • #5
          Another ditto.

          I didn't believe people when I got my plot and they said pigeons were a major problem... until my old nets got a hole and all my black kale was stripped to the core overnight.

          They also got into my purple sprouting broccoli when snow damaged the nets - imagine a 30 inches long fully-eaten sweetcorn cob standing upright and each of my plants looked just like that!

          Luckily the pigeons didn't venture too far into the caged area and I didn't lose too much but I make sure I check over winter now.
          The proof of the growing is in the eating.
          Leave Rotten Fruit.
          Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potasium - potash.
          Autant de têtes, autant d'avis!!!!!
          Il n'est si méchant pot qui ne trouve son couvercle.

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          • #6
            You need to net ALL brassicas on our plots else the pigeons ave 'em. A fox got one of 'em last year that obviously couldn't take off quick enough after it had gorged itself on one of the poor unsuspecting newbies cabbages after he didn't heed the warnings we gave him. I just cleared up the last of the feathers off my plot this week whilst digging which was the scene of the murder.

            Sweetcorn and carrots is the other thing that needs fencing off else the Badgers get 'em, red soft fruit like Strawbs and Raspberries also need netting from the Blackbirds.

            All we need now is for the grey squirrels to take a fancy to something and we will have the full set of pests raiding our plots. lol
            The day that Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck ...

            ... is the day they make vacuum cleaners

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            • #7
              ^^^^ you missed out pheasant and deer!...both are a pain in the ......
              "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

              Location....Normandy France

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              • #8
                Is there anything much that doesn't need netting
                LOVE growing food to eat in my little town back garden. Winter update: currently growing overwintering onions, carrots, lettuce, chard, salad leaves, kale, cabbage, radish, beetroot, garlic, broccoli raab, some herbs.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by craftymarie View Post
                  Is there anything much that doesn't need netting
                  Potatoes. That's about it...
                  My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
                  Chrysanthemum notes page here.

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                  • #10
                    So leeks, onions and sweet corn for the time being should be ok without a net?
                    What about peas and beans, will they be ok until they start to give a crop or will the birds eat the small plants?
                    Don't have a problem with badgers and the fox's arent using this bit of the plot, they get fed next door.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by The Griff View Post
                      So leeks, onions and sweet corn for the time being should be ok without a net?
                      What about peas and beans, will they be ok until they start to give a crop or will the birds eat the small plants?
                      Don't have a problem with badgers and the fox's arent using this bit of the plot, they get fed next door.
                      I don't think peas and beans are safe either. The pigeons started eating my runner beans and nipped the top off one of them as well so I had to net those.
                      LOVE growing food to eat in my little town back garden. Winter update: currently growing overwintering onions, carrots, lettuce, chard, salad leaves, kale, cabbage, radish, beetroot, garlic, broccoli raab, some herbs.

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                      • #12
                        It really depends where you are and what pests you have. I have a suburban type garden so I am not bothered by things like deer, rabbits, foxes or pigeons, but I do have issues with cats. I don't have allium leaf miner (yet) but I do have large numbers of brassica pests like caterpillars and flea beetles and I have a huge problem with gooseberry sawfly.

                        I net all carrots and brassicas from the start, and have put up a permanent net over my gooseberry and blackcurrant. I net spinach and lettuce after the end of May as these can get eaten by caterpillars. I net soft fruit against birds.

                        I don't net peas, beans, courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, onions, herbs or apples.
                        Last edited by Penellype; 20-05-2016, 11:56 AM.
                        A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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