_I was told by my local university extension office that the damage to my seedlings was done by quail and that I needed to dome poultry wire over the rows to keep the quail out. I did that and the damage persisted. It couldn't possibly have been done by quail. I removed the poultry wire and started watching the quail in my garden with binoculars from my bedroom window. I saw quail walking between my rows of seedlings totally ignoring anything green. They were feeding on dried bits of vegetation. I've observed them all over my property picking up dried stuff. (They get there water from sipping it off of condensation on grass blades in neighbor lawns.) Early in spring and summer, they will feed at cracks in street pavement where dried bits of vegetation have drifted in. I even parked my car, went back and checked at a crack in the pavement where they had been feeding and found weed seedlings totally intact that they obviously had ignored.
The damage in my garden was and is done by earwigs. If you love earwigs devouring your garden be sure and use lots of mulch near your vegetables. They hide during the daytime in mulch and grassy lawns and come out at night to feed. I've found that the best defense against earwigs is an expanse of dry dirt. They hate it and won't cross very much of it. A couple of feet between your vegetables and a lawn or any mulch or weeds will usually do. They hide in anything green and moist during the day. Earwig damage is identifiable by the tender parts of leaflets being eaten out and the veins left untouched. So you'll see leaves that have only the veins left.
The damage in my garden was and is done by earwigs. If you love earwigs devouring your garden be sure and use lots of mulch near your vegetables. They hide during the daytime in mulch and grassy lawns and come out at night to feed. I've found that the best defense against earwigs is an expanse of dry dirt. They hate it and won't cross very much of it. A couple of feet between your vegetables and a lawn or any mulch or weeds will usually do. They hide in anything green and moist during the day. Earwig damage is identifiable by the tender parts of leaflets being eaten out and the veins left untouched. So you'll see leaves that have only the veins left.
