Any idea what's eating my mangetout?

[68lbs]

...I'm guessing it's not slugs.

[Lumpy]

In my uneducated opion they look like slug or snail nibbles.

There will be someone along soon to let you know for definate.

[w33blegurl]

I've always assumed its pigeons when I get those bits out of the edge. I have no evidence to support, however other than guessing!

[Muddy_Boots]

I'm sorry to say that in my opinion that's deffo an attack by the 'rats with wings' brigade. You will need to net them pronto else you will just have stalks sticking out the ground by the weekend.

On my first year I planted peas which were doing great until the feathered rats discovered them, they went from about 4 inches high to nothing within a week. They were laughing at me from the trees when I pulled up in the car and burping after their big feast, its a wonder they managed to take off they had scoffed so much.

I'm tempted to get a shotgun licence.

[greenmagpie]

Those nibbles are almost certainly pea weevils. They are little brown bugs that clamber around the tips of the plants and live in the soil. Hoeing around the plants helps, or my (entirely unorthodox) method: sprinkle a little ant killer powder between the rows. This works for me.

[68lbs]

Bloody hell! If it's not chickens and ducks, it's now pigeons!

Do pigeons have a particular diet of allotment favourites?

[muddled]

Bloody hell! If it's not chickens and ducks, it's now pigeons!

Do pigeons have a particular diet of allotment favourites?

yeah, anything green!
But I don't think its them anyway...I agree with greenmagpie, you've got pea weevils.

The good news is that usually they only munch leaf edges and certainly in my experience, the crop is unaffected.
Having said that, in future it might be prudent to start your peas off elsewhere and transplant when slightly bigger to make sure they're big enough to cope with leaf damage.

[68lbs]

Thanks... Just been reading another thread about the pea weevils. I might chuck some more seed in cells in the GH and try this rhubarb leaf concoction that someone else seemed to think works

[Martin H]

Another vote for Pea and Bean Weevil, because of those scalloped edges.

[MarkPelican]

I agree with pea and bean weevil. Leave them in but sow some more, it can't do any harm. I always so my peas in modules then when I plant them out I sow some more underneath. Then, when they're beginning to harvest, push some more in around the roots.