Birds pulling up leeks

I might have had a had a few pulled out in the past, so few that I can't remember it happening before, but on the afternoon of my return from 5 days away last week I found loads of them had been pulled and left to die in the hot sunshine.

Returning around lunchtime the next day with some netting, I found loads more had been pulled out, and although I'd lost over 50 leeks luckily I still had enough spares to replace them all (better too many than too little, excess can always be fed to hens), but for anybody else it could have been devastating.

I'm a bit hacked off that's yet another crop that requires fencing against rabbits plus netting overhead to protect against birds (and ants are already starting to build nests amongst them!)

 

Feel for you!

Next year you will be so well armed in protection, your hens will thank you for it. But, what an extra time and money eater for you in preparation!

 

Aww, Scrunge

Good idea to net them against the Leek Moth now as well, ruined a few of my crops of them

 

I bought a load of Wilko's 'strawberry netting' @ 30p each last year and was considering giving them away with strawberry runners I've been selling, but will now hang onto them.

It just seems that every year a new pest threat arrives, but at least the local crows seem to have given up on their practice of pulling out all my courgette plants and sunflowers just after I'd planted them, but the pigeons are now pecking out brassica seedlings (especially radishes) and becoming a worst pest than flea beetles.

 

That's bad luck Scrungee...I would have been seriously hacked off if they were mine,I've only got space for a dozen Leeks and as you say if it's not one pest it's another this year for me atleast.it's hardly been worth the bother....

@Scrungee ...I'm going off at a tangent now sorry but you mention Ants....when I dug up some potatoes the other day from my raised bed I must have disturbed a huge nest ,my potatoes have been a disaster this year,well more or less could Ants be a reason for it?

 

Scrungee, shouldn't your leeks be too big for birds to pull them out the ground by now?.

I usually plant them well down, with almost no foliage above ground.

 

They were planted relatively late, but we prefer lots of small leeks to a smaller number of large ones.

 

[QUOTE="Lolimac, post: 829779, member: 13366"I'm going off at a tangent now sorry but you mention Ants....when I dug up some potatoes the other day from my raised bed I must have disturbed a huge nest ,my potatoes have been a disaster this year,well more or less could Ants be a reason for it?[/QUOTE]

Potato plants with an ants nest under have always produced rubish crops for me, plus the small tubers have been distorted and unsightly.

 

I've not seen the culprits, but it could be it crows as lots had been snipped in half - would blackbirds do that? (they are very angry about us netting our fruit & polytunnel doorways and complain loudly every time we visit)

 

Black birds are very inquisitive and love to pull things out, just for a look.

Not sure about crows, we dont get that many around here.

 

I'm now getting birds pulling the flowers off my courgette plants!