A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening Which seedlings need bird protection?

Hi

Just wondering which vege seedlings need to be protected from birds, and if they require bird protection their whole life?

Here's what I'm growing:

Cos Lettuce
Cabbage
Pak Choy
Zucchini
Broccoli
Silverbeet
Tomato
Corn
Strawberries
Beans - pole
herb garden

Cheers

Shaun

I'm not too sure which seedlings need protection, but corn need to be carefully planted so birds don't know where they were planted. I lost 2 patches of seeded corn this year to birds. I could see the holes in the rows where they pecked them out and often broken seed lying beside the hole.

Every area is diffrent but keep in mind that you need to keep an eye for several days even a week (before germination) for birds and small animals. Not only you may have birds looking for those seeds in the day but also at night there is a chance seed will be in danger. When you sleep there are other pests that would love to go and look for them too.
Every year I have a crop that fails because of rodents doing their work when I sleep even if you're on the alert.
I am covered by a good lab. dog in the day time but at night it's a diffrent world out there!

Best of luck..it is all part of the fun!