Pansy seedlings eaten
I have a planter box on my upstairs balcony which I have been trying to grow some pansy seedlings in for my girlfriend. The seedlings emerge and have healthy looking cotyledons. They reach a height of about 1cm and then the next morning the leaves are gone leaving only the 1cm stem which of course then dies. I have seen no insects on the seedlings and have even sprayed them with some pyrethrum in the hope it will stop whatever is causing this but to no avail. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I"ve now sown my third lot with the same results every time.
Could it be slugs or snails? But on an upstairs balcony? Are there other planters and flower pots about harbouring them, even a vine climbing up a nearby wall? Joan
Could it be birds?
Hi Joan, no other plants anywhere nearby and no sign of snail trails either. Hi Lynsey, I doubt it"s birds as it seems to happen during the night. Starting to think it may be possums nibbling the tops off! I wonder? I"m running out of other ideas. Maybe I"ll set up a IR motion sensor camera and find out.
Hi Eric, have you found the culprits who destroy your seedlings yet?
Hi Joan, no I"ve pretty much given up. Too cold now I"d imagine to sow Pansies anyway probably. Might have a look to see what else I could try. Most of my garden here (even the trees when they are young!)gets eaten by one creature or another. It"s just how nature works when living near a rainforest I suppose. It is lovely to have all the wildlife of course, but it sure makes gardening near impossible compared to my old place back in Sydney.
Hi Eric, I have recently had pansies uprooted and am pretty sure it is possums (they do leave evidence). Unfortunately I have no remedy - they are hungry little critters.
Hi Pam, yes I suspect you are right. Looks like the only gardening I can safely do is under cover of some sort now. I had my new blood orange tree stripped bare to just a thin vertical stick recently too but the culprit there was a local swamp wallaby. Seems they are a species which not only grazes like other wallabies and kangaroos but likes to eat many of the shrubs which they can reach also. Mine must be tastier than what"s growing in the surrounding rainforest I guess! I noticed yesterday that the orange tree which I thought might perish is showing signs of new shoots so my gardening job for today is to encircle it in wire mesh.
hi eric this comment a bit late but I have lost 3 pots of pansies this year to possums until I sprayed them with water with a touch of tabasco and put some blood and bone around the seedlings they hate both fingers crossed as I love the flowers