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My seedlings are taking a hit. What’s strange is the seedlings planted closer to the house and activity are suffering the most from pests. The ones planted near the end of our lot seem relatively unscathed.
The squirrels have been digging up my carrot seedlings to bury acorns. The birds have been eating my seedlings’ leaves. I even put up scare tape and it’s not helping. Food must be getting scarce right now if they’re willing to brave the scare tape to eat my seedlings.
To add onto that, the armyworms are taking a toll on my brassica seedlings. They didn’t touch my starts that I put in first – about 2 months ago. But the ones I’ve put in over the last month have been decimated. I’ve resorted to spraying with Bt, but even that doesn’t seem to be helping. I’ve been handpicking them and giving them to the chickens. Still, can’t get it under control. Where are those thread waisted wasps when you need them?
The squirrels have been decimating our garden too. Any area that doesn't have full grown plants seems to be fair game. They even dug out a bunch of the seedlings in pots on the planting table. Uugh! I'm resorting to row covers for the newly planted areas because they have turned all the seedlings to freshly turned dirt that is ready to plant. I originally got the row covers per your recommendation to handle leaf miners, but it looks like they will be all purpose for a while.