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Raised bed and Cardinals eating seedlings. (Southeast US, Zone9a) (timeyak.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/gardening@lemmy.world
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Greetings, I recently started a new raised bed in the yard out of old galvanized metal roof panels I had laying around as I ran out of room in the greenhouse’s. Planted some leafy greens such as Vates Blue Scotch Kale and Black Simpson lettuce. Seedlings just started to come out and I was impressed with how quickly the Cardinals came out to mow them all down. I put a quick screen over it for now to give the seedlings a chance, but man, wasn’t expecting that so quick. Anybody else run into that situation as well? Do they eventually let up once the plants mature a bit? Thanks for reading and Cheers!

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[–] 4 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Seems they eat seeds, weeds, buds etc. I'd personally start stuff off indoors on windowsill and once started, transfer to ground. I guess netting can also help. Birds love seeds so usually folk top with layer of dirt if laying grass seed etc. But depends how capable the birds are.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 2 months ago

    Thanks! Yah i usually grow most of this indoors in a greenhouse but the heat this year has been rough so I thought I’d try something different. Yah they had left the seeds alone and were munching on the new shoots, careful to leave just a single stem remaining but picking off all the new shoots/leaves. Oh well thanks for the reply.

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    • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Interesting. I've never had problems with my greens seedlings. Though we don't have many cardinals around here. Are they the only bird that you've seen for after them?

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 months ago

    Thanks for the comment! Cardinals are the only ones that i have caught, we have plenty of finches and sparrows that frolic around, but I haven't caught any of them in the bed or greenhouse's before grabbing seedlings. The screen seems to be holding up so far and working... 😀

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    • 4 comments in c/Gardening@crazypeople.online view that post
    [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    Oh no! I've never dealt with birds specifically (that I know of?) but in general as things get bigger they seem less likely to be totally removed and more likely to just get nibbled on.

    I saw another reply (maybe the x post??) suggesting transplanting but I have had mixed luck with transplanting lettuces. Leafy greens do well with covers because they don't need to be pollinated but they are a pain to work under and would need to be propped up later as they grow so I get why it isn't ideal.

    Good luck!

    ETA: your space is beautiful btw!

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Thanks for the Comment! Yah it took my by surprise initially but the more I think about it, I guess I shouldn’t have lol. I do have it next to a bird bath and a small pond so I guess i just provided a snack for all the birds visiting along. Oh well. Yah I’ll have to work on a better screen system as you’re right, the current setup will be a pain to work under. And I agree transplanting leafy greens has never worked well for me either, their root system seems particularly more fragile than other species.

    Also an FYI, I stumbled across your posts browsing through the Fedi pages looking for neat and new communities to subscribe to and enjoyed reading your posts and the pictures you shared. Thanks and hope you have a great day! Cheers.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Oh thank you! I should be very clear I am a novice at gardening but I'm glad you found some use from the posts. I'm thrilled to see more people posting and very happy to have you here.

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    • 2 comments in c/greenspace@beehaw.org view that post
    [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Yes, we have to cover things pretty consistently when they're first sprouting. Cardinals, tanagers, and sparrows seem to love pulling young plants out. There's usually less interest after a week or so, depending on how quickly the sprouts grow.

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