Poor little plants

[where2start]

Well my little garden overall was doing well, even if some of the veggies are a bit slow.

I had 7 pumpkin plants growing and i lost all but three. I was checking the last three every day. One of them is just about to flower with both male and female plants which was really encouraging. The other two weren't far from flowering.

I went out there yesterday morning and there were 3, i went out last night and there was only one left

I cant work out whats happened, the plants has separated at the stem and had been blown across the garden. Was this the cat walking on them or was it a beastie eating away the stem....any ideas?

I have also lost loads of cabbage plants but up till now i have been blaming the high winds we have had and didn't worry about it. But loosing all but one pumpkin has really upset me.

[elizajay]

Pumpkin plants don't grow in winter. Best thing is to plant seeds in a warm place indoors in the spring and plant out late May or when the danger of frost has passed in your area or follow the instructions on the seed package. It's horrible when plants die, but yours didn't have a chance poor things!

[elizajay]

~Oh sorry my mistake, I see your location!

[zazen999]

Are there teeth marks/has the stem been sliced or ripped?

[where2start]

Its mid summer here! But we have had some wild winds, though saying that my little garden is fenced in.

I just cant work it out.

I do wonder if its beasties though, because when i was digging the patch over as its the first year planting on new ground i found some grubs, not sure what they were.

Next year, i will learn from my mistakes and probably plant pumpkins in tubs on the deck see how they get on then. Its just way to late in the season to try a couple more because come march chances are we will be getting frosts and snow again

As this is my first year growing my own, i knew i was going to loose lots of bits and pieces and that its going to be trial and error but even so still makes me sad to see this happen.

[where2start]

I didnt see any teeth marks, the stems looked healthy that morning. When i found them across the garden the stem looked a bit stringy and darkened do you know what i mean? Almost like they had got wet and just ripped away from the plant. BUT we didnt have too much wind yesterday, not too much rain, it has been lovely and warm.

Its a bit strange because i have four beds, and the pumpkins were in the biggest which isnt doing so well anyway and i do often see my cat walking on there but she seems to tip toe around established plants and the pumpkins were quite big.

[gojiberry]

Don't know if you get slugs and snails down south. I know in the UK they can chomp through a pumpkin stalk in a night quite easily. I would definitely say it is a plant eating pest of some sort.

Ian

[where2start]

This is a picture of a critta i found in that particular spot. It hates the dark, there were loads of them and they were about an inch in size....i wondered if it was this.

Yes we do get slugs and snails but to date i have not seen a single one, even when i was digging the ground over...sounds like it though doesn't it...

[BarleySugar]

The insect looks a bit like a cricket, I don't know if they would have eaten your plants though.
You say the soil is only just been cultivated? When I got rid of our lawn there were loads of leather jackets, the larvae of the crane fly. I don't know if you get them in the Falkland Islands, but they are horrible looking brown grubs, around an inch long. The first year they ate through the stems of a lot of my plants just below the surface, leaving the plant to die. It was especially bad with the lettuce. You said you found some grubs, they might do the same sort of thing even if they are a different species.
Crane flies lay their eggs in grass, so the problem resolved itself, as when the grubs turned into adults they flew away to other people's lawns