Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
indica_2010

do birds eat nasturtium?

indica_2010
13 years ago

Hello everyone,

I am really a newbie here. This is the first year I am trying to grow plants from seeds.

Well, last night I had kept 2 hanging baskets of nasturtium(nearly 3 wks old) outside in the balcony of my apartment. Morning I wake up to see that the leaves neatly eaten away and just the main stem being left in one - when I came outside after a few minutes, I saw a bird with my plant in its beaks!! it had ripped out another nasturtium!!

So disappointed! I wud like to know - do these birds eat nasturtium?? anything I cud do differently next time - as I have already put seeds in that basket.

Any suggestions please...

Comments (6)

  • oilpainter
    13 years ago

    I have never heard of birds eating Nasturtiums or any plant. I've seen them eat the petals off of the apple blossoms but I think that was more to get the nectar.

    More than likely the bird was gathering nesting materials and a bare stem seemed it him it would make a good addition. Check your basket for earwigs. You'll have to take a flashlight at night to do it. I'll bet that was the culprit that ate your leaves.

  • indica_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    well, no earwigs in basket.

    yes, I also think - that the bird just pulled the stem for its nest. I did see leaves scattered around basket - so maybe the bird just nipped off leaves too? well, it did not happen today and I hope it does not happen again.

  • indica_2010
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Actually the nasturtium basket is intact - but alyssum - there are only 8 seedlings now..and I cud bet there were 11 of them total! and no signs of alyssum leaves/ seedlings scattered around. the basket soil looks slightly dug up..

    hmm.. everyday I am losing one or the other seedling...how do these insect/rodents actually climb up and eat seedlings from baskets that are hanging from a ht?

  • Dawnzig
    9 years ago

    Absolutely they do! I've seen it happen in my garden. It was the Golden Crowned Sparrow that was the culprit. They particularly like the new growth.

    The first sign on the full grown plants I saw last year was tears in the leafs, but it didn't look like it was from pests. Then I witnessed the birds in action. The plants were well enough established that it had little impact overall.

    But then in March, when I was starting from seed this years Nasturtium, I found the birds eating off the tender new sprouts, and I knew they would never have a chance to survive, let alone thrive.

    Solution: I put netting over the sprouts to prevent the birds from getting them, and it worked. After plants had established themselves I removed the netting and I now have thriving plants. It seems that the Golden Crowned sparrows have moved on and everyone is happy.

    This post was edited by Dawnzig on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 14:26

  • cold_weather_is_evil
    9 years ago

    Birds DO ravage flowers. They've eaten half my zinnias (flowers and foliage) and half of the early foliage of some sunflowers. "Sparrow" type little monsters ate these below as I watched. There was no rubble on the ground. They weren't building nests. They're just jerks.

    BTW: nasturtiums are delicious. A little peppery, but good.

  • gonene1
    9 years ago

    Birds eat seedlings and sprouts and even the new leaves of my cuttings.
    I keep strawberry and geranium (pelargonium) seedlings covered with a birds net.
    And one time when the plants where close to the net , they eaten my strawberry seedlings through the net.
    so now i make sure to keep the net high enough .
    although just a few days ago a geranium sprout vanished leaving only a small hole where it grew.
    maybe some long beaked bird like a Hoopoe?