Pigeons and brassicas
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
I've got a patch of mixed brassicas - approx.12'x10' currently covered with netting but there's not enough height really and I haven't got and can't afford any more.There are a lot of 'woodies' around the site and I don't want to risk taking the net off really, but will they do a lot of damage to older plants?
Jude
There are more questions than answers.
There are more questions than answers.
Yep,they will.I had one mature Purple sprouting that got accidently left outside the net after picking one day (it had flopped over)and 3 days later it had been stripped to stalks.I find that if I release the net at the bottom and just let it ride up with the plants the pigeons don't seem to get up and under but if the net sits on the leaves the cabbage whites will lay eggs on them so caterpillar watch is essential,catch22 or what?
You can get cheap fleece from the Pound shops which would do the job JB suggests.
I don't need to cover brassicas, or much else from pidgeons, as they don't do any significant harm. Perhaps it's the ferocious cats and the dog?
Don't tell the pidgeons that the only things they catch are rabbits and moles......
I don't need to cover brassicas, or much else from pidgeons, as they don't do any significant harm. Perhaps it's the ferocious cats and the dog?
Don't tell the pidgeons that the only things they catch are rabbits and moles......
Hello Jude - another alternative that I think is hugely underrated is the use of pea and bean netting. I mean the green stretchy stuff that is sold in boxes in the garden centre.
We bought some doubtfully thinking it would prevent our brassica problems with both hares and birds. The results have been impressive, with no damage from either since it went on - months ago! We just drape it over, ensuring crops are well-covered. You can peg it down, but the pegs add to the cost and we found them unnecessary. And it 'grows' with the crop. It comes in various sizes, so you can buy the right one to cover your area. For more flexibility, we buy smaller sizes and then use multiples if one is insufficient.
For the area it covers, it is pretty cheap too - about £3 for an 2m x 8m length (remembering its elasticity). I know you don't want to spend more, but we found the spend on the netting negligible when offset against the loss of crops, having to buy the supermarket veg to instead and of course all that wasted time and effort.
We bought some doubtfully thinking it would prevent our brassica problems with both hares and birds. The results have been impressive, with no damage from either since it went on - months ago! We just drape it over, ensuring crops are well-covered. You can peg it down, but the pegs add to the cost and we found them unnecessary. And it 'grows' with the crop. It comes in various sizes, so you can buy the right one to cover your area. For more flexibility, we buy smaller sizes and then use multiples if one is insufficient.
For the area it covers, it is pretty cheap too - about £3 for an 2m x 8m length (remembering its elasticity). I know you don't want to spend more, but we found the spend on the netting negligible when offset against the loss of crops, having to buy the supermarket veg to instead and of course all that wasted time and effort.
The cow is of the bovine ilk
One end is moo, the other, milk.
One end is moo, the other, milk.
You can get the sretchy netting from the Pound shops too. (I'm beginning to sound like a parrot, a mean one at that!)
Chez - can you tell me how to master that netting. I've got boxes of it 'cos every year I buy some of each size, convinced it's going to be useful. Then I lose the fight with the first pack and throw the rest into the tool shed.
Chez - can you tell me how to master that netting. I've got boxes of it 'cos every year I buy some of each size, convinced it's going to be useful. Then I lose the fight with the first pack and throw the rest into the tool shed.
Tigger, it's much easier as a two person job! We just unfold it lengthwise, grab an end each, then work toward each other spreading it out widthways as we go and ending up meeting in the middle. Once its laid out (usually on uncultivated ground close at hand) we remain at each end, then just drag it up and over the crop.
The cow is of the bovine ilk
One end is moo, the other, milk.
One end is moo, the other, milk.
Thank you everyone, but panic over. I've just had a good clear out of my 'home' shed, thanks to my daughter URGENTLY needing to find her bucket and spade, and I've found a good-sized piece of netting which I didn't remember I'd forgotten about. God, I'm getting old!
Jude
There are more questions than answers.
There are more questions than answers.