How do I get rid of whatever is eating my seedlings?
by
Mia Durand
+2
New to square foot gardening, I have a bunch of seedlings coming up, but as of this morning some of them have holes in their new tender leaves (zucchini, strawberry spinach, rainbow chard). Other plants have been left alone so far (pole beans, kale of various types, tomato, mini bell pepper, etc.). The holes in the zucchini leaves are about a quarter inch wide, and the holes in the chard and spinach are teeny tiny. I can't find the bugs that are snacking on them - I've looked hard. Is there some general organic magic spray I can treat my plant babies with to avert these monstrous fiends? Is there a particular time of day I should look at them in order to catch the thieves in the act? Thanks in advance for any advice!
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Water them thoroughly and then cover with white flower. The bugs can't digest the flour. Replace flower as needed
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=23872
sounds like it could be slugs!
I've had the same problem and learned it was slugs, look for a silvery slime trail.
What I did was sprinkle some Epsom salt on the dirt, not the plant.
The Epsom salt dissolved the slugs as they crawled over it.
I agree with the slugs as culprits. They are night feeders and leave no evidence except holes and missing plants. Epsom salts work quite well and is actually a fertilizer. Give that a try before you make any traps or buy something expensive that will do the same job.