Oh no.... Does the damage happen during the day or night?

It seems to be the night Chris. I did notice a hole at the side of the steps, and it looks like its going underneath them. I'm wondering if a mouse or vole has made it it's home? I need to get it blocked up and see if that makes a difference.

In the winter I had a lot of vole problems. They are a nightmare, so I hope that's not what you have.

Fingers crossed Chris, although Iknow by the number of 'presents' that I get from the cat that there is a healthy population somewhere nearby.

Yuck!

Sorry Kate! I hope your cat gets them all!!

I'm on the verge of digging the whole lot up. I secured the netting well yesterday, but there is even more damage this morning., adult plants now that the babies are all gone. At this rate there'll be none left in a week or to. I'm close to admitting defeat and putting them all in pots. at least until I have a few more of each plant so that any casualties can be replaced. Very sad.

I'm sorry Kate - I understand your pain. I can't tell you how many I lost over the winter to voles. No matter what I try it seems impossible to get rid of them. Lucky for me they seem to leave in the spring and not return until winter. There is one new thing I haven't tried yet that I just purchased and will use this fall. http://www.plantskydd.com/vole... I'm not sure if you can get that there or not, or if these people ship internationally. I've used their other products on deer and rabbits and it's excellent.

Good luck.

Oh Kate, I am so sorry to hear that the problem has not been solved. With it being night time raids, it is more than likely some type of rodent. Especially since you found a hole near by.
I would definitely give the Plantskydd a try if you can get some. Meanwhile talk to your local extension agent to see what they recommend.

Kate, I think you would definitely have peace of mind if you save the semps first with repotting and then try to figure out the rodent problem. I'm sorry about your problem.

Kate so sorry!!! Good luck and keep us posted! I hope you can get the planskyd there

I found out what the problem is, and the individual chicken wire cloches I spent all afternoon making aren't going to be of any use.


CATERPILLARS!!!!


I dug each plant up and removed all I could find, but off to the garden centre tomorrow to look for something to get rid of them for good.

Eviesmummy said:
CATERPILLARS!!!!

These guys did that much damage??? WOW I'm so glad you found the culprits!!! Half the problem is solved and hopefully your hunting will get you to doing the other half...
PS thanks for beautiful photo for the photo hungry mob...

webesemps said:
...
PS thanks for beautiful photo for the photo hungry mob...

I hope you've already eaten!

Yes, when I dug the plants out of the ground I could see that the damage was far worse than I already knew about. It's just as well I found out now, otherwise it probably would have been too late, the roots were being munched as much as the leaves

Kate, I agree, it is a good thing to have found the bandits who were eating your plants,

Now we can look forward to your postings of a caterpillar free zone. YEA KATE...

with the Sister!

I just found this thread. So Sorry. That really is a bad infestation. After all that work!!!

Hang in there Kate! Yuck on the bucket of things! Ewww (yes I am just a bit squeamish sometimes!)

Wow, those are some nasty caterpillars. As big as they are, I'm not surprised they did that much damage. I hope that once they're gone others don't move in to replace them.

Dirty deed done! Plants dug up (again) another bucket full of caterpillars disposed of and everything liberally sprayed with insecticide. *Shudder* I dug out even more of the little buggers than I found last night. We're over run with them! Yuck! I did take frothy coffee and mini frost out all together. The spray said it could turn more delicate plants yellow, didn't want to chance it on those two as they are my most tender.

I'll check again in a few days and reapply. If that doesn't do it I think I'll take them all out and get some nice pots.