[davethespread]

i sowed my broad beans straight into the plot this year for the first time ever

imagine my joy when they all came up,only to be decimated the next night by mice i think three survived out of fifty

[Epona_4]

oh dave thats soul destroying.......

[Salmo]

Are you sure it is right to blame mice?

It is unusual for mice to eat beans once they have sprouted. The little devils usually dig them up the night after you plant them leaving dimples in the earth.

If they are not covered with netting the newly emarging beans are attractive to birds. I lost a whole row one year. Jackdaws went along and pulled them all up and left them lying there. Presumably they pulled them up to see if there was a grub or worm attached.

[Carrotcake]

Soul destroying indeed, but I agree with Salmo. I don't think mice were to blame, although they could be developing a more sophisticated taste. Bean shoots are very trendy at the moment 

I sowed mine on Saturday, so am going out now to cover them over just in case!

[bigben]

I agree with the birds option. Mice seem to love them when they are germinating but then leave them. Winged rats perhaps?

[mumofstig]

At this time of year I cover anything that's germinating or the hungry birds eat them. I've just taken plastic sheeting off the top of my germinating peas, but have had to replace with netting to stop the birds getting at them 

[arugula]

We have various crops planted in trays/containers/pots etc and placed in the polytunnel, other than tomatoes and chillis which are indoors. Yesterday we found my sunflower seedlings all but decimated  and the little gem lettuce sampled.  Traps are now set and a big mouse has already been caught. They appear to be coming up inside the polytunnel through an excavation made by a mole at the back end of last year. 

[potatogrower]

I agree its the birds, namely pigeons. They always eat our stuff especially the young pea shoots. last year i witnessed 6 of them having a wild allotment party  around the peas while some waited on the fence eagered to join in!

Best to cover them up with some sort of mesh netting.

[hamstergbert]

Mice in my greenhouse after the broad bean shoots (after they had dug up the jap spinach seeds just planted and left the empty seed case outers on top of each cell).  Trapped three on successive nights. 

Not exactly team spirited, are they as on each occasion in spite of it being next to a mouse corpse they dug in and ate the rest of the bait (half a prune each time).  Mrs HGB reckons there is a cynical streetwise mouse encouraging all the others "go on our Maurice, you'll be fine" to spring it so as he can then tuck in safely.

Since those three through no more yet - perhaps the word has got round Mousey Towers.

[waxwing]

Never had a mouse problem with my broad beand Just the damp and rot killing them
But I did notice last night, the evidence mice had been at my peas.

Steve

[chrisnchris]

The same happened to mine the first year I tried them.......every single one was uprooted when about 6" tall & just been planted out 

I'm pretty sure it was squirells....we don't have so many squirells this year
It could have been pigeons though.

The pigeon population also seems to be decreasing

[arugula]

Mice in my greenhouse after the broad bean shoots ........

......... Mrs HGB reckons there is a cynical streetwise mouse encouraging all the others "go on our Maurice, you'll be fine" to spring it so as he can then tuck in safely.

......

Either a similar scenario here, or sabotage.  My sunflower seedlings eaten in a closed polytunnel? It sure ain't pigeons! 

[compostqueen]

I have only just got my greenhouse ready to go this year, cleaning and repairing it ready for the off. I put a couple of trays of cabbage plantlets in there which was like a red rag to a mouse as they were in there from the off     I caught one overnight.  They come up through the soil in the beds.  Wonder if I should put slabs down instead

[Salmo]

I imagine that a nice cosy slab to live under would be mouse heaven!

[billathome65]

We had a family of mice move into my home just before November took me 7 traps and 3 weeks to get rid of them.