lettuce eaters

[jermoatc]

I am a third year gardener and am having trouble with something eating my lettuces this year. I think it has to be a rodent of some kind. I have three varieties of lettuce in a bed with some swiss chard and my poor lettuces are getting mowed down from the top. Not far down enough to kill the plant but down pretty far. I dont see any signs of rabbits. We do have field mice and voles and 13 striped ground squirrels here in colorado where I live. The interesting thing is my lettuces are getting mowed down but absolutesly nothing else is touched. Not my chard ,beets, spinach radishes,... nothin. Any ideas on what it could be and what to do about it? Thanks. I found out about his site from backyardchickens.com and I am execited to be a part of this forum. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[desertlady]

those pesty critter will eat those up, you can cover lettuce with nets, I got green bean vine growing for at least 6 weeks and something at it up ! GRRRR!

 

[digitS']

We don't have that species of ground squirrel here but instead have the Hoary Marmot and Columbian ground squirrels. From my experience, they will eat just about everything. It takes the marmot a few years to figure out what is edible and since he's happy with grass, he doesn't really need your garden veggies. Still, he figure it out over time and if there's nothing much else green and growing, he will be chewing up any & all of your veggies.

The Columbian ground squirrel will eat anything near its burrow. I mean, they will create a moonscape! They will also venture a little further for something they really like.

Along with the Mountain Cottontail, which I suspect is somewhere around your neighborhood , the "really liked" veggie seems to be green bean seedlings. I may have tormented the marmot, that tried to take up residence in the neighbor's rockpile, so that he moved on. The rabbits are still around so I'm blaming them for eating all my broccoli plants this year! The pole beans are in a distant garden but I'll try them later and hope the bunnies are busy with the alfalfa by then. (Or, the hawks & owls are busy with the bunnies .)

A ground squirrel burrow anywhere in the neighborhood is an invitation for me to show up with a sledgehammer, several rocks, and a short piece of wood. He spent 6 months of the year down there, as far as I'm concerned, he can stay down there another 6 month (or, permanently) . . . or, he can move to another neighborhood. I am not going to be happy with him "shaving" the plants off at ground level and the rocks in the burrows have put a stop to that in the past.

Good Luck & Welcome to TEG forums !

Steve

 

[bluelacedredhead]

Can you check your plants at night with a flashlight? Might also be nocturnal insects like slugs or pillbugs. I have lost all of my squash seedlings of one variety, while another variety on the other side of the garden path thrives!
I finally started investigating late at night and up close with a flashlight to find the leaves of the plants infested with tiny slug babies. I hand picked them off 3 nights in a row and drowned them, now the pumpkins are growing without problem.

 

[catjac1975]

Woodchucks will mow down a garden in no time. They are out in the heat of the day.

I am a third year gardener and am having trouble with something eating my lettuces this year. I think it has to be a rodent of some kind. I have three varieties of lettuce in a bed with some swiss chard and my poor lettuces are getting mowed down from the top. Not far down enough to kill the plant but down pretty far. I dont see any signs of rabbits. We do have field mice and voles and 13 striped ground squirrels here in colorado where I live. The interesting thing is my lettuces are getting mowed down but absolutesly nothing else is touched. Not my chard ,beets, spinach radishes,... nothin. Any ideas on what it could be and what to do about it? Thanks. I found out about his site from backyardchickens.com and I am execited to be a part of this forum. Any help would be greatly appreciated.