Have you tried making collars out of toilet paper cardboard or paper towel cardboard to prevent the cut worms from getting to the seedling? Usually it rots away and allows the plant to grow inside. You can cut it in thirds or whatever size you think you need. :o)

Denise, Katkin,
I read in one of the forums(don't ask where LOL) that cofee and cofee grounds help to keep snails at bay. Well I tried it. I had some plants almost dead from snail damage, well I'm happy to report that it did wonders for my plants
I haven't seen a snail in months and I see very little damge.
So whenever I have cofee and cofee grounds I just spread it around the plants that need it. WORKS FOR ME!

As far as cut worms, I cut a ring from a plastic water bottles, I get 4 rings from one bottle and I slip it the ring around the trunk of the plant and push the ring in the soil abut a 1/2" that also works well for me against cut worms.

Just had to put my two cents in
Hugs, Carmen

Hi Denise!

Thanks for the reassurance. I hope my little ones are ok. I have seen the occassional snail in the veggie garden, but I don't think they are causing this, as many of the beans are cut at the base overnight, and it would have to be a lot of snails, I think. I have many more in the rest of the yard than I do in the veggie garden. Carmen, maybe that is because of the concentration of coffee grounds in there?

Next year I will be prepared by saving toilet paper rolls for the purpose. However, I find that many of the sowed beans are cut just as they are emerging, before they even rise up above the soil. I will be looking through my recycling bins today to see what I can use for this purpose.

Thanks for your responses, ladies!

Anna

Tiny toads? Are they maybe those little non-native greenhouse frogs?I doubt they'll suffer from the DE - which isn't very effective for caterpillars anyway, as imagardener sez.

Here's a neat trick I learned years ago from Organic Gardening's TV show: simply stick 2-4 toothpicks or twigs into the soil right up against the stems of cutworm-threatened plants - spacing them equally - the caterpillars encircle stems to do their dirty work & this foils 'em.Just make sure the sticks extend @ least 1 inch into the soil(more is better) & a few inches above. This has worked for me & is much quicker & more dependable than collars; there're always lotsa twigs around handy, so I don't have to do much prep when setting out my transplants.

HTH

Hi Carol!

Your toothpick trick sounds interesting. I'll see if I have the patience to try it later on today. Somehow, I did not note any damage last night. Maybe it is snails? I don't see any dead snails or worms. A mystery!

My yard is full of southern toads of all sizes. The little ones are easiest to see because they are out more of the day- the big ones are more visible after dusk. They breed in my pond and are a good pest control for my yard, so I love them. I am pretty sure they are native toads, fortunately. I'm glad you also feel the DE won't harm them. Thanks.

Anna

Hi again = )

When it comes to bean seedlings, my biggest prob has been SLUGS, which munch on the emerging seedlings just as they begin to poke up out of the ground = (

My solution for that has been to plant LOTS of seeds - better odds of a fair number of survivors - & iron phosphate slug & snail bait. I understand it's fairly benign, environmentally - pkg sez it breaks down into fertiliser...?

Looking for ways to make sure I have delicious tomatoes. In order to help minimize bugs just today I added a toad pond (small container w/water and a rock for a platform) to my garden to keep the toads happy as I understand they feast on the pests. Well I also added some DE a little later in the day after reading and remembering how good it is to kill bugs, ants, etc.
Tonight I got concerned about my toads so I took a late night stroll around the garden. They are happily hopping about. I'll keep a watch to make sure they're alright and keep you posted.

Thanks. I have small ants now coming and an occasional cockroach. I have pets in the yard some times and want to control the fleas. I also have bushes that when the due and rain falls will harbor mosquitoes and want to put DE down for them.