Thursday 23 March 2017

They're Up and Eaten!

Wednesday was a miserable day with steady rain for most of the day. It was the coldest day of this March as the temperature only managed to reach 6.6°C or 43.9°F. The day's rainfall amounted to 7.2mm or 0.28 ins - nothing exceptional.
Temperature & Rainfall for 22 March 2017
I sowed some lettuce seed Tom Thumb and Salad Bowl a week or so ago and made a note that it had started to germinate by Monday of this week. I popped into the greenhouse this morning (Thursday) to see if any watering was required. I doubted any would be needed after a dull, cold and wet Wednesday. I was right and nothing needed to be watered but as I looked over the emerging lettuce seedlings I noticed something I wasn't at all pleased with.
Lettuce Seedlings-Tom Thumb
The seedlings looked like the emerging leaves had been eaten. It looked a bit like a slug might have browsed them but there wasn't a tell-tale slim trail. I thought it might be worth removing the set of cells  from the seed tray to see if a slug was lurking in the dark.
My suspicions were well founded as I found one hiding away waiting for better conditions to emerge and finish off the few remaining lettuce seedlings. This particular slug has eaten its last salad. I might have to resow some lettuce seeds but I might wait a couple of days to see if any more seedlings germinate. So much for my attempts at some early salad leaves!

2 comments:

  1. That's bad luck. I bet that's alerted you to the danger for future sowings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm on the look out now. I don't suppose for one minute we wont get any more slug damage.

      Delete

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