Kitchen Garden Forum

We have brazen magpies on our allotment, by the score. This year I have covered all the brassicas in polythene tunnels to protect them and their growth has been outstanding. Not bad for a plot that I believed was riddled with clubroot. When does it become safe to remove the sheeting? Do magpies ever give up? And will it harm the brassicas being covered for so long?

i cover mine with fleece on hoops which i leave until the leaves are pressing against the fleece, by this time the plants are large enough to withstand a certain amount of grazing by pigeons and pheasants. one large leaf eaten off a big plant must have less effect on the plant than a small one being nearly totally eaten

Dear Chrisanddan, i don't think i have ever suffered any damage from Magpies before.

Like Richard, it's Pidgeon an Pheasant damage round my way.

Hello ChrisandDan,
I always cover my brassicas permanently, I never leave them naked! This year I have bought enviromesh, as I am fed up with aphid infested broccoli. I used to use netting over hoops to keep the birds and butterflies off.

We don't have problems with magpies (do they eat greens?) but pheasants, partridges and jackdaws and we cover everything with large plastic mesh, supported on bamboo canes topped by empty plastic bottles. We found that fleece or close mesh, like environmesh, keeps brassicas too warm and close and encouraged diseases.
I would try to get them uncovered for the summer, chrisanddan.

Though I bought Enviromesh for the first time this year, I've saved that for carrots etc and just put ordinary netting over my brassicas.

For one lot of Broccoli I used metal hoops around 18" high to support this until they got established, then uncovered them (back in May). For another lot, I used netting stretched over a frame made simply from short'ish canes stuck into the ground (using either upturned flower pots or old tennis balls to support the net). This was a little higher than the first lot & I've left the netting on right through to harvest.

During this period, I had a bed of Kohl Rabi which I hadn't netted and this got marmalised by some sort of bird. This may indicate that the birds leave Broccoli alone once it's bigger (or there's an alternative meal).

However, though it been a quiet year so far for caterpillars (at least for us), you might benefit from leaving netting on if you can if they suddenly arrive later in summer.

Wot. no peas !!!!!
Don't mention pigeons pheasants or rabbits.

It's Manchester so it must be magpies. And they don't care, they eat while I work a matter of yards away.

I'm afraid our local pigeons do not ever leave my brassicas alone, I wouldn't dream of leaving them uncovered. They are practically waiting in the wings (no pun intended) for me to take the cover off for weeding, so they can get on the tops and start pecking away. The same goes for the butterflies, they are always around, and I am not going to risk them laying their eggs on my cabbages, or they'll end up as just sticks once the caterpillars have hatched and start munching.

we always shoot one magpie then we hang it by its legs some where it is visible some where high up .it never fails to work .the same method works well for crows as well. so we don't need netting etc.if you don't have a gun i am sure a game keeper will supply you with one for free

think your brassicas have problems with magpies my tortoise is always getting dive-bombed, they are wicked

mandy