Birds?

[dphipps1020]

I know the title of the post is probably what caught most of your attention, and possibly had some of you wondering what it's about. Well I planted an autoflower a couple weeks ago and shortly after it sprouted something ate part of it. At first I was thinking it was the deer that are always around this area. So to solve that I put my plant on a table on top of a tree stump so they hopefully wouldn't get to it. Things were fine for a little bit and she was growing again and then all of a sudden some of it was gone again! I really haven't seen any deer in the area we fenced in for my "yard" (probably because of the dogs) so I've been really confused. It also doesn't look like a pest got to it, my first thought was grasshoppers but the leaves were totally gone and not just part of them. So my final thought is that it has to be the birds. I'm trying to let her grow to see what I'll get, but it's been extremely slow because of the lack of leaves. I guess I'm just curious if anyone else has had an issue with birds eating their plants? I'll post some pictures too, going to try and put them in the order they were taken. Any thoughts?

[Catfish22]

I don't think birds eat leaves. The trees would be stripped bare.

[SoOrbudgal]

I think it's a rolly poley we call them. Like a centapede black rolls up into a ball. I've had them in my soil even indoors somehow they get into my tubs with lids on them. Yes they eat leaf. Gotta look into the soil a bit.

[dphipps1020]

I used to see those all the time when I was in Arizona, not so much here. I honestly don't think I've seen them since I've been in Colorado. We used to play with them, watch them roll up and unroll 😂

[Puglover1]

Looks like my cat's eating pattern

[DeadlyFruit]

I have the same mysterious problem in my vegetable garden, usually with carrot sprouts and pea sprouts. Something likes the new growth and can strip the garden of my plants over a few days. Ive never figured it out for sure but my short list of culprits is slugs and snails, bunnies, skunks, squirrels and raccoons. There is probably some other possible creepy crawlies that come out at night as well. Given how whatever it is just at a small part of your young leaves I would think it very unlikely to be a large mammal (deer or otherwise) and more likely a very small one or bugs of some type. Try putting a little cup of beer beside it which will attract and kill slugs as a start.

[dphipps1020]

I've looked over the plant and all in the soil and haven't seen signs of anything. I haven't seen any squirrels since I moved slightly out of town, but they could be there I guess. I'm not sure if rabbits could get up the stump the pot is setting on, let alone the picnic table before that. Maybe a skunk could, but I don't see a lot of them near the houses here, mostly just by the highway and unpopulated areas. It also always seems to happen during the day, usually while I'm at work. Maybe I should see if the property owner is having a problem too. His plants are bigger but I didn't see anything wrong with them when I saw them a few weeks ago.

[DeadlyFruit]

Bunnies can get higher than you realize. They often make nests in yards with dogs to keep away other predators and in my yard a bunny dug a small burrow and had babies over a single night in a narrow but tall planter pot (just flowers) at my back door. The pot was probably about 3.5 feet tall so mom could get in and out but once the babies started exploring they couldn’t get back into the nest. Bunnies are sometimes active during the day so they could be the culprit but I would have thought they would eat the entire shoot rather than just the edge of a leaf. Skunks are very nocturnal so if you don’t have to go out and walk a dog after dark you may never see them. I am leaning more towards chipmunks and mice although again they must not like the plant after their first taste or they would strip it bare. Could it be a groundhog (or whatever the local version of that is in your area)? No animals bother my outdoor cannabis but I always start them inside under lights so they are never outside as sprouts which eliminates many problems because most animals like young plants. Can you put it inside under lights for a few weeks?

Great landscape on the pic below by the way - beautiful view.

[Phlash]

Chipmunks were the bane of our garden this year, hundreds of seedlings of various types fell victim to them.

[dphipps1020]

This I could see, or maybe a field mouse? I know we have the mice around here. Just seems to like the smaller leaves too so hopefully they'll hurry and grow so they stop getting eaten.

[dphipps1020]

This is a far away picture so you guys can see how it's set up.

[DeadlyFruit]

Since the plant is still very small could you try things like draping a bird net over it propped up off the plant and maybe put a little trail of cayenne pepper or some other deterrent around it on the table? I think you just need to get it from a sprout to a larger plant amd you will probably be golden, unless the deer then find it 🙂

[dphipps1020]

That was my thought, a net of some sort temporarily or moving it inside. I don't really want to move it inside though because I want to take advantage of the full sun since it's stronger than my LEDs. Looking into some DE and now probably a net as well, just in case. I feel like it's just as you said, they like it because it's a sprout and not a bigger plant yet.

[dphipps1020]

DeadlyFruit here's the rest of the view. Bit smokey over the horizon right now but when it's clear there's mountain views for days.

[DeadlyFruit]

Beautiful landscape!

[desertdan]

Antelope maybe?

[dphipps1020]

Haven't seen any antelope around at all here, just deer and smaller critters.

[Ckbrew]

How about setting up a trail cam.

[Puglover1]

The 4 pic has my cat written all over it.

[TOKABIGONE]

I think Pug makes a very good point! Do you or your neighbor have a cat?

[Smoklahoma]

Grasshopper?

[dphipps1020]

This was my fix for now since I don't have a trail cam, some bird netting over a tomato cage. Puglover1 I doubt it's the homeowner's cat, I don't think they let the cats outside much and it's kind of far from their house. Smoklahoma grasshoppers was my first guess but the last time I dealt with those the leaves were only partially eaten and the marks were rounded off. I really don't know here, but if it gets eaten now I can rule out bigger animals. The homeowner's plants seemed fine when I saw them which leads me to believe whatever it is only likes the small sprouts.

On another note, I fired the tent back up and dropped a fresh Zkittlez in a pot. I'll have at least something coming in a couple months, along with whatever is left of the Alaskan Purple 😂

[DeadlyFruit]

My two Zkittlez plants outside are 11 feet tall!

[dphipps1020]

Nice, I wanted something big like that but I guess it's not in the cards for me this round.

[DeadlyFruit]

They definitely have the genetics for it in that strain.

[Rwise]

Cat or mouse, could be, dear, rabbit, bird not likely, most likely a bug of some kind. That DE over the soil could take care of it. Have any bounce sheets? Staple some of those to the table, they repel bugs.
I have had rabbit damage, they will chew down a plant for the moisture. (cut off at the ground it was).
Grasshoppers, stinkbugs, locusts, can/will devastate a crop. Millipedes will eat vegetation as well if they run out of other stuff to eat, I have lost sprout to these (and mice).

[DeadlyFruit]

I’m starting to feel lucky about growing in my area! If I put out a mature plant the only things I have had to worry about so far are a small variety of bugs like leafhoppers, aphids etc. (As well as the dreaded bud rot).

[dphipps1020]

So, unfortunately I have to take it inside and put it in the tent. Apparently it's too windy in my area to have it set up like I did. I got home from work and it was blown over and on the ground. I think I may have saved her, but she's definitely not going to be happy for a few days. I'll get pictures when the lights come on.

[dphipps1020]

Poor little girl is a trooper 😂