Broad Beans being eaten
Allan Gayton
Posts: 1
in Talkback
My broad beans which I sowed three weeke ago appear to have been eaten. I sowed them directly in the ground with half of them having been soaked and chitted before planting.There appears to be little holes and broken shoots scattered on the surface. I have never had this problem before- is it mice and what can I do about it?
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Posts
It could also be pigeons. I've watched woodpigeons ferret below the soil until finding a broad bean seed and then lift and swallow it whole. One bird managed half a row before I got outside to scare it away. I grow them in small pots now and only plant out when they are several inches tall to avoid this sort of damage by rodents or pigeons.
Mine are netted and I found one chewed, i have now used a few slug pellets and no more chewed. Loads of slug slime and dead ones though.
Dip the beans in paraffin before planting an old allotment trick and works.