Carrot being eaten

[tel1968]

Can anyone offer some advice on what is eating my new carrot tops? please see attached images. Some are fine all on one side of the small plot but the other side has had all the new growth eaten off them.

[rustylady]

Slugs or snails is my bet. They've been really bad this year.

[tel1968]

Thanks rustylady for replying so quickly,
Thought that myself but have had slug pellets down for weeks now and have a copper strip around the top and base of everything (5mm core electrical cable stripped, my son is a sparky).

Any other suggestions.

[Incy]

I'm having to renew the pellets every few days at the moment and they're still getting past my defences. In my experience they love carrot tops so I'm with rustylady on this one.

[tel1968]

Thanks Incy
I thought the extra defence of the copper wire would stop them, do they not cross copper?
I will double my efforts on the pellet front and see where this gets me but they still seem to be working as i see dead slugs/snails every now and then outside the copper wire strip and they don't seem to be bothering anything else (lettuce peas beans toms cabbage cauli strawbs). Is there nothing else that could do it?

[Potstubsdustbins]

IF its slugs they could be hiding below soil level already above your copper wire, then coming out at night and feasting on your carrots.

Colin

[Shadylane]

Rabbits? I had them digging mine up one year. At least I think it was rabbits, either that or rats ewww. I'd have said slugs too but if everything else is untouched then I reckon rabbits. Twice now I've caught one hiding between the peas. It legs it as soon as I arrive. Not sure what it's after as there's only weeds and lettuce down there.

[Incy]

As potstubsdustbins said, the slugs will be in the soil so if your pellets are around the bed rather than sprinkled sparsely directly on the soil, the blighters will be popping up of an evening for their tea.

[Uber-Uncool]

My veg growing is in pots and raised beds and i have never used copper tape around the beds or pots because slugs and snails can come up through the soil inside the raised beds and even the pots drainage holes.

I think it likely it is slug/snail damage. Many of mine have been munched too.

[Chocolate8me]

Tel, why don't you try using half a lemonade bottle like cloches?

It's what I used in my raised bed & it encouraged so much to grow. Use the top half of the bottle & take the top off for ventilation, not forgetting to water inside too.

[Two_Sheds]

have had slug pellets down for weeks now

Snail & slug populations have simply exploded this year with all the rain ~ I can usually pick over 100 in my back garden, but last week I got over 1000 in one evening. That's ten times more than usual, so a few pellets won't have much impact.

Can you not go out with a torch one night and have a look?

[eirish]

My veg growing is in pots and raised beds and i have never used copper tape around the beds or pots because slugs and snails can come up through the soil inside the raised beds and even the pots drainage holes.

I'm not growing much in pots this year, but I've had that problem in the past. I've been mulling over the idea of knitting or crocheting some copper wire into drainage hole covers, sort of inspired by this:
Introducing Slug Shield Copper Barrier Mesh - GreenMethods.com

I wonder if a mesh cover to go over the soil where seeds have been sown would help. Hmmmm.

[Bob_]

Young carrot leaves eaten

My young carrot leaves are being eaten but there are no snail/slug trails around them. I know it's not rabbits because the raised beds are protected by chicken wire fences. Any ideas?

[Jungle Jane]

Are there holes in leaves or whole bits of leaf missing,I wonder if birds would pull at carrot leaves?

[Mr Bones]

Hi Bob and welcome to the Vine. Slugs don't always leave a trail, you may need to have a nightime vigil armed with a torch and scissors!