what is eating my peas/beetroot/letuce?

[bluebellParticipant]

many of my plants appear to have small scallop ‘bites’ around the edge of their leaves. Worst hit are the peas, one type are in danger of being wiped out and some of the neighbouring plots have some sign of damage to peas, but not on other plants.

No slime trails and the damage doesn’t look right for slugs/snails. There are quite a lot of rats on the plots this year but the marks look small and even so maybe pecked by birds?

With so many plants being hit it would be really difficult to cover every thing so any ideas to reduce or prevent further damage would be much appreciated.

[charlesModerator]

 The joys of gardening! Pea/bean weevil nibbles leaf edges and usually peas and beans grow out of it, perhaps the current cold conditions make it look worse. Beetroot could be sparrows, lettuce I am not sure, if you don’t think slugs are involved…

[Rocket ScienceMember]

This sounds very much like Hedge Sparrow damage to me and is a common problem here. Damage seems worse in spells of dry weather as we had a few weeks ago. Peas, Lettuce and Beetroot are all favourites. Is the damage worse nearer to hedges? They are timid birds and seem to prefer crops along the edges of the plot instead of the middle open ground. I cover crops with enviromesh if necassary. Runner Bean and Pea flowers also liked by them in summer!

[bluebellParticipant]

Since the lettuce are least attacked and it has been fairly gradual (our pigeons normally obliterate things). Whilst there are no hedges on the immediate plot there are some a couple of plots away and there are plenty of sparrows with nests and probably young in there.

[LipanParticipant]

I sowed beetroot in a tray, next to lettuce and spinach sowings, which are doing well. But something is cutting the stems of little beetroot (yet cotyledon) and leaving them just there! What can it be? I thought about woodlice, but do they “eat” the seedlings?

[charlesModerator]

 It sounds like woodlice to me, when stems are nibbled through, especially spinach and beetroot, so be careful of your spinach. Maybe have a tidy up in your propagating area and remove any bits of old wood and hiding places for woodlice.

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