Ssomething has eaten the tops of not one but two of our bean plants. It’s very irritating when we have spent so much time carefully nurturing them in the greenhouse to have them nibbled to pieces like that within a few days of being put out in the open.
They were the two tallest plants, so I’d be surprised if it was snails or slugs as I’d not expect them to hold their weight. On the off-chance that it is some new super-light variety, though, I’ve scattered that end of the plot with organic, pet-friendly slug pellets in the hope of warding them off.
What of the two that have been nibbled, though? Well, I’m hoping they’ll just grow a little slower than the others. Last year I managed to snap a bean plant when I was encouraging it around a bamboo cane and it did recover slowly.
Having two in that state could actually be a good thing as it means – in theory – that they’ll mature more slowly than the others, and could extend our season.
Related posts:
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Could it be pigeons?
Wonder if it’s a snail climbing up the cane, it’s a good year for snails and I’ve got some crackers doing damage down my allotment. Even in wheelbarrows!
Yes that looks like slug / snail damage, if you go and check at night-time you might catch them at it. Look out for silver trails as well. A ring of crushed eggshells is supposed to deter them, or a barrier of bonfire ash as they don’t like dry surfaces; I trust the slug pellets more though.
Same thing happened here, ours was definitely birds!!! have planted some fresh seeds where the worst damaged ones are and covered with chicken wire to keep the critters off!
Our newly fledge sparrows have been eating the tips of our peas too
hard to get annoyed with them as we have watched them born fed and fledged . Luckily the plants are well established and i have some flowers
I experienced my beans were being chewed off at ground level usually afew inches above. And always an angle cut it took a few days but I caught the pesty fat bastard after he destroyed about two thirds of my crop bush beans leaves and all vine beans just the main stem and as far as he could eat on his hindlegs you guessed it its afield mouse he came to a bitter end with the use of a ski pole