what on earth is eating my strawberries?

karren

Ive tended, fed and loved my strawberry plants until now, waited daily for them to ripen, and something is eating them!!!!!!
Im sure I saw teeth marks in the one half eaten today, where is the justice in that, it didnt even finish it!!!!
We have 2 cats, but surely they woulnt eat them?
A fox does come into the garden (next door feeds it cat food! and my daughter now has a phobia about foxes thanks to them!! but thats another story)

What can I do to protect them?
all suggestions gratefully received, thanks x

SallyForth_2

Birds perhaps, I have nets over all my soft fruits because of them.

karren

right im off to pop the net back over then! ta

rhiwfield

Blackbirds love strawberries (as well as blackcurrants, raspberries etc) and, if they are the culprits, will clear your crop unless you net it. They peck at the strawberries and leave them half finished, smaller fruit they eat whole.

karren

how can I make a frame thing to cover them, as just attemptec to cover them and the netting has flattened them, any ideas? ill google it and see, but i do need direction for these things, i have some 2x1 somewhere and netting, but i could pop to wilks if i need to, im trying to be frugal buts its hard!

aliasojo

Cats do eat them. I tried growing strawbs a couple of years back and what the birds didn't get, the local cats did. I gave up in the end.

I'm trying again this year but this time I'm about to put a netted frame over my pot so none of the beggers will get near.

chihuahuabear

Maybe its your husband?

Soubrette

It could be slugs or snails - although they won't leave toothmarks

Sou

Glitterati

Sounds like birds to me. Naughty birds nicked a few of mine before I netted them, I hadn't even tasted them myself yet and thought I would eat them the next day, but they had a different idea! They left one half eaten on the grount too just to rub it in! And during their savage attack managed to break the stem with a whole bunch of green strawbs on which then died! grr!
Anyway, I now have made a HUGE cage to cover them and my raspberries. I made it using bamboo sticks, tennis balls for the joints, duct tape, wire and netting! It took me most of the day but did the trick! Only thing is my raspberry plant has now outgrown it so I have to build an extension now!

karren

Glitterati wrote: »

Sounds like birds to me. Naughty birds nicked a few of mine before I netted them, I hadn't even tasted them myself yet and thought I would eat them the next day, but they had a different idea! They left one half eaten on the grount too just to rub it in! And during their savage attack managed to break the stem with a whole bunch of green strawbs on which then died! grr!
Anyway, I now have made a HUGE cage to cover them and my raspberries. I made it using bamboo sticks, tennis balls for the joints, duct tape, wire and netting! It took me most of the day but did the trick! Only thing is my raspberry plant has now outgrown it so I have to build an extension now!

THats the sort iof thing i need to make as its a tempory structure and im skint!! so hey ho its off to build i go, watch out birdies!!!

Glitterati

Hehe I'm in the process of making mine taller now and making it so it has a door/flap I can open to get to my plants! Might be a bit ambitious but we'll see! I will try and post a photo when I'm done! :-)