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The Corroboree
J Smith

Suspected bird attack on seed(lings)

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So, my mate and I have been trying to grow some chilli seeds that we purchased from The Hippy Seed Company. We made it into a bit of a competition, as we both planted the seeds at the same time and we wanted to see who would grow them best.

Seeds were planted in peat pellets and sitting in seedling trays which were on a baking tray on a table in my front garden. Seedling trays were covered by the top half of soft drink bottles to make small greenhouses.

I went out this morning at 0800 and saw that 2 of the 5 peat pellets had been disturbed. I initially thought that maybe the wind had blown them over, then thought that as one of the peat pellets was missing that a possum had got them over night. I re-setteled the other pellets and went to work.

I came home at 1430ish to find all 5 peat pellets spread across the front garden. In addition, 1 of the 2 A. Maidienii seedlings I had grown from seed (approx. 5 cm tall) had been unrooted. I was a little annoyed.

I suspect that a crow has gotten into them, as crows are sneaky fuckers, but I was amazed to think that not only had they worked out to knock over the "greenhouse" bottle tops, but also that the cheeky fuckers had come back for second helpings!!

It looks like I have lost the competition with my mate (although she does say she came and uprooted my seedling trays :P ) and I am now reluctant to leave seedlings in my front yard.

I really just wanted to vent, but has anyone else experienced something similar and is there anything I can do to stop it happening again?

At least they stayed away from the cactus...

EDIT: while they did uproot the acacia (but left it sitting next to the pot), it looks like they dug the chilli seeds out of the soil. Perhaps a bird with a chilli fetish?

Edited by madhouses visites

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bird netting is good shit, they use it in the vineyards here to prevent the birds pecking holes in the grapes and spoiling them.....there wouldnt have been any bugs in the pellets so dont know whats goin on there, maybe they just wanted to mess with ya =)

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I think the birds broke all of this seasons flowers of of my Stenocereus marginatus , i only saw a couple start to bloom :ana:

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Birds DO love chilies... My chooks think they are great.

To protect my seedlings I can't fit in my garden house, I use old bird cages with the tray removed... You might have to tie it to your tray for crows.... They are smart and strong...Things don't have to be ugly to be functional and some bird cages have great looking detail....

I also use upside down dish drainers.. but they aren't as tall and some birds peck through...

Yes.. bird cages from the tip... either free or very inexpensive... and look good..

What kind of chilies?

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yes, bird and other animals can be quite a pest, but i would not invest in buying birdnetting, just because of that misshap.

first of all, it sounds like this was your first planting and i say that very often the birds don"t repeat this behavior.

you could rise the plants a bit bigger befor planting out, and once you plant out, set them deep into the ground and with some of the natural soil on top of the pottingmix. somehow birds and rodents get very attracted to those jiffy pots or fresh pottingmix, i lost often stuff aswell to cats, which suddenly use my planting spaces as cat crap litter stations.

if one checks, on ones freshly planted beds and pots regularly, one can keep the damage often to a minnimum, as one might find the pulled out young plants in given time to replant them.

the tip with the rope and the one with the cages on top is a good one, i am sure you find something in your garden to achive a similar goal.

i like to keep things simple, fast and inexpensive, just pick a small branch of a tree and stick it next to your seedling, i bet you it will protect the plant.

happy growing! :)

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Thanks for the comments.

I had grown plenty of seeds on the same table in the past, the main differences being this time 1) I was growing chillis 2) I was using jiffy pots for the first time and (I feel so stupid for not realising this earlier) 3) I had removed the cactus that were also on the table. The cactus were removed 5 weeks ago and seeds had been there for a couple of weeks no problem.

I setup the jiffy pots again this morning and they had been disturbed again this arvo.

I guess the cactus spirits were guarding the table and weren't happy being moved. Thanks PH I hadn't even put 2 and 2 together!!

The chillis had not yet germinated and the seeds had been dug out of the pot, which was what confused me the most. The bird knew what was under the soil level?

I was growing a mixture of seed. Hungarian Hot wax, Peruvian White Habanero, Kempsey Red, Scotch Bonnet, and Fatali Habanero. I guess I'll just have to try again, this time keeping my cactus friends close. :)

Edited by madhouses visites

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The chillis had not yet germinated and the seeds had been dug out of the pot

Mice maybe?

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Don't underestimate the intelligence of magpies. they are quick learners and are less inclined to shy away from people. But I love em anyway. Cactus trick sounds like a good idea but....

Hutch :wink:

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I reckon it was your mate. :lol:

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OK well I saw a crow uprooting a variegated aloe this morning so I now know what he looks like. I have moved all potted plants around the back for a couple of weeks, I just hope it stays away from the plants in the garden. They are a lot bigger than seedlings so should be OK. I've heard crows have pretty good memories so I imagine it may soon come back when I return potted plants out the front. I'll make sure they are surrounded by cactus to see if that deterrent makes a difference.

My mate also had two of her seed pots overturned this morning, she lives about 2 blocks away. We hypothesised that maybe the plastic bottles that were covering the pots caused a glittering effect that attracted the damn bird in the first place.

I also found the jiffy pot that went missing the first day, it was in the garden about 5 meters away. It had its arse chewed (pecked?) out.

I searched wiki for scarecrow and found this suggestion. "In the southern Appalachians another common method of scaring off crows was use of a dead crow hung upside down from a pole." Might smell a bit hanging next to the front door though...

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