Garden murder mystery

[808LOLO]

My wife has been watching alot of murder mysteries lately. Reminded me of my own garden mystery.
The last few years i toss seeds from extra chucks out in the yard. I am always hoping to find something that will grow 100% outdoors here. Its hard because the light hours here are at most 13.5? Something like that. And i live on shady side too

I can get alot of seeds to sprout but something always picks them off. A couple at a time. I am assuming birds (mynas and finches) and maybe mice. This time i put some upside down net pots as a cage bc i dont know what else to do besides doing a stakeout! ?

Its a bummer because so many sprouts get lost when they coulda been da one! I put some pics . Thread is just for fun and wondering other people stories

 

[UncleB]

I had an issue with "something" eating my vegetable seedlings and younger tender plants that were in the ground during the night.
Was convinced it was a mouse, rat or ground squirrel.
Tried baiting a trap with cilantro or other tender greens, and come every morning the trap would be pretty much empty, but untripped.
Finally stumbled out into the yard at about 1am one night when getting up to pee.
The trap bait was being chomped by ..... crickets! I kind of laughed, but was at a loss as to how to stop them.
Took a few weeks break and planted in containers and got a few things to produce that summer.

 

[808LOLO]

I forgot to mention in that second pic in the ice cream container there are 3 sprouts in the middle laying down. Cut clean and still green. I felt like i just missed the action!

But i hear ya unkleB, i aint mad at it but its fun to know whats happening when i am not around ?. Whn the weather gets crazy here all the animals n bugs get crazy too. Big bugs get desperate to get in da house. I also see sprouts wt first leaves plucked off. Seems like all kine, the whole natural gang of life around is eating by my garden. Hopefully feeling healthy!

 

[MacGydro]

My first guess would've been mice, just hearing others deal with that issue, even indoors.
But if it's crickets, or any other insects, the netpots might not keep em out.
Maybe try some cut down clear bottles with a few holes poked in the caps for heat to escape? If you check the plants once a day, and pop the bottles off for a breather, you shouldn't cook em. The bigger bottle you use, the bigger they can get, and resist more threats.

Personally, if I lived in a place with your hours, I would veg everything inside @ least 16/8, til it was a good size, and then put it outside whenever I wanted to start flowering. The 3+ hr shift should kick em into bloom.
You guys can pretty much flower any time, right? 4 potential seasons from seed outdoor, but if you veg inside, you could perpetual whenever? That's what I seem to remember hearing from friends around you before, anyway...

Webcams are pretty cheap nowadays...Maybe you could set up a digital stakeout to text your phone when the culprit gets hungry again?

Good luck catching Cap't Cricket, in the garden, with the mandibles.... ??

 

[808LOLO]

appreciate the ideas. I am not at home right now but may try a bottle trick someday. Also this is just a fun experiment for outdoor straight to soil. I am not depending on these sprouts for meds. And i small kine enjoy long drawn out problem solving!

Personally, if I lived in a place with your hours, I would veg everything inside @ least 16/8, til it was a good size, and then put it outside whenever I wanted to start flowering. The 3+ hr shift should kick em into bloom.
You guys can pretty much flower any time, right? 4 potential seasons from seed outdoor, but if you veg inside, you could perpetual whenever? That's what I seem to remember hearing from friends around you before, anyway...

what u described is exactly what i do for years. Perpetual since day 1 of growing. It can become chaos for me. Some sativas take forever to start to flower outside but most plants show sex in 2-3weeks outside.
I grow em knee high indoors, boot em out in bigger pots. Alot will finish in 3-4 months. In winter u will get many many runt plants. Fun for short hunts or maybe isolate and reveg

Thanks for the input ??

 

[808LOLO]

Well the mystery always goes on. I was home for the weekend and saw many sprouts gone. My wife is now a suspect for not watering outside very much... ?
also hv banana slugs as main suspect
but the sprouts that look cut clean at the soil is still weird.
Some sprouts were under their net pot cage and still had their tops gone, cant wait to catch a cricket in action!

 

[JL2G]

I forgot to mention in that second pic in the ice cream container there are 3 sprouts in the middle laying down. Cut clean and still green. I felt like i just missed the action!

But i hear ya unkleB, i aint mad at it but its fun to know whats happening when i am not around ?. Whn the weather gets crazy here all the animals n bugs get crazy too. Big bugs get desperate to get in da house. I also see sprouts wt first leaves plucked off. Seems like all kine, the whole natural gang of life around is eating by my garden. Hopefully feeling healthy!

Mice are known to do that. Have seen the carnage that happened to a growmie.

 

[JL2G]

My first guess would've been mice, just hearing others deal with that issue, even indoors.
But if it's crickets, or any other insects, the netpots might not keep em out.
Maybe try some cut down clear bottles with a few holes poked in the caps for heat to escape? If you check the plants once a day, and pop the bottles off for a breather, you shouldn't cook em. The bigger bottle you use, the bigger they can get, and resist more threats.

Personally, if I lived in a place with your hours, I would veg everything inside @ least 16/8, til it was a good size, and then put it outside whenever I wanted to start flowering. The 3+ hr shift should kick em into bloom.
You guys can pretty much flower any time, right? 4 potential seasons from seed outdoor, but if you veg inside, you could perpetual whenever? That's what I seem to remember hearing from friends around you before, anyway...

Webcams are pretty cheap nowadays...Maybe you could set up a digital stakeout to text your phone when the culprit gets hungry again?

Good luck catching Cap't Cricket, in the garden, with the mandibles.... ??

Guess I should read farther. Lol
I second that the mice coulda done it, with the knife, in the parlor.

 

[Ramjet159]

A week or so ago I soaked a dozen seeds and the gods appeared happy as I had an 100% success rate .
Moving along I placed the jiffy’s in the next faze small seedling pots then under the good old T5s to take hold . Alls going well for a couple days and then I stroll in one morning to find one seedling laying over flat on the soil like a lumberjack had severed the stem near the base .
Oh well ok , I still have 11 healthy seedlings .
Next morning ……. Now I have 10 seedlings , same deal .
What the heck is just snipping the stem and collapsing the seedling ?
I was determined to unravel the mystery so I sat on my toolbox nearby and observed .
Eventually maybe 10 minutes later an ant pops up from the soil and starts marching around the stem looking menacing . Here is my culprit .
I ended up squishing about half a dozen of them that must have been in my compost when I made my seedling mix .
Usually I’ll 30% compost 70% seedling mix and it works fine .
For added measure I circled the remaining stems with diatomaceous earth to deter the little buggers . So far so good

 

[808LOLO]

If yal like small kine updates...
we hv a "kitten" about a year old. He is wild! And my fam is all girls, they dont like to let him out at night bc he is popular and brings all the neighboring cats to our yard. It can be noisey.
But i let him out last weekend at midenight and he caught three mice in 1 night. Almost like he was made for it being a cat!
i havent solved the overall mystery yet but now we got murder from the home team.
Turf warz continue???

 

[Willie]

Maybe pillbugs??


They say they are helpful in the garden, but here I cannot put out seedlings too tender.......the phuckers eat the hell out of stuff...Cuke seedlings particularly.

 

[808LOLO]

I haven't had a good update yet. Plenty of seedlings have come and gone outdoors... all unsolved mysteries!

Main suspect is still slugs. I started using wood ash from our firepit to sprinkle directly on snails n slugs during a night patrol ?
It's very satisfying
Or i make a ring in the plant pots. So far its helping but it doesnt last for long.
Aslo i used to be more diligent about a supersoil recipe. I wonder if i am missing out on using neem cake meal nowadays as i see neem used successfully in some slug prevention farm studies ?

 

[Trichitect]

@808LOLO , It could be cutworms, I know some people that had issue with them.

 

[MacGydro]

You may already know this, but an old slug trap is a shallow lid, or plate, with some beer in it. They’ll crawl in, drink up, and die drunk and happy. Pour a lil out for the homies going away party!

If they’re this big though, you may have to sacrifice a whole 40....

 

[808LOLO]

Ya i do have cutworms here. I don't know how to stop them specifically. I spray routinely when i have bigger plants outside and they ussually aren't a big problem. The seeds i throw outside dont get much attention beyond watering so maybe they could use some zymes or something.
I need to look into pill bugs but i hv a soft spot for rolliepollies. Hard to be mean to them until i catch them in the act 😶‍🌫️

I tried some slug traps with beer but they didnt work. I did get some big roaches, i went out at night and seen those fakas having a party around a cup of modelo!
I think local slugs like green bottles only🤣
Everything is expensive out here so i usually drink one for the homies! I'll try again soon Though

I did have a plant make it so far. I didnt even realize it until the other day. Thinking wait i never transplanted that!

It is chilling next to a bittermelon vine. Bittermelon gets almost zero bugs. Kinda like a deterrent i think
More babies more future mysteries...

Once they get an inch tall their tops will go missing. Somebody Straight scalping em!
Thanks for looking 🤙🏽

 

[Willie]

Ya i do have cutworms here. I don't know how to stop them specifically. I spray routinely when i have bigger plants outside and they ussually aren't a big problem. The seeds i throw outside dont get much attention beyond watering so maybe they could use some zymes or something.
I need to look into pill bugs but i hv a soft spot for rolliepollies. Hard to be mean to them until i catch them in the act 😶‍🌫️

I tried some slug traps with beer but they didnt work. I did get some big roaches, i went out at night and seen those fakas having a party around a cup of modelo!
I think local slugs like green bottles only🤣
Everything is expensive out here so i usually drink one for the homies! I'll try again soon Though

I did have a plant make it so far. I didnt even realize it until the other day. Thinking wait i never transplanted that!
View attachment 170681
It is chilling next to a bittermelon vine. Bittermelon gets almost zero bugs. Kinda like a deterrent i think
More babies more future mysteries...
View attachment 170682
Once they get an inch tall their tops will go missing. Somebody Straight scalping em!
Thanks for looking 🤙🏽

If you are after slugs, put some bone meal on a saucer. Then go out at midnight with a pair of scissors and murder in your heart (that's easy with slugs )

And use yeast instead of beer.....unless the beer is shit.