Mystery Night Plant Muncher - HELP !!!!!!!

[Anton]

I have a "night visitor" in my GH.

This freeloader has been munching on the bulbs of my Rossiogolssum, Iwangaara, Coelogyne, Dendrobiums and also the leaves as well.

I have recently repoted most plants and found nothing untoward in their potting mixes, but changed them anyway, after closely checking the new mix as I was preparing it.

I thought that this would have erradicated the problem, but not so.

For the past week all plants in the GH have been sprayed 2 to 3 times with Pest Oil which is a white oil derivative. In the morning, NEW munch marks !!!

Now after a week you think this critter would have met their maker, but obviously not.

This is ocurring on upper, middle and lower shelves, which are of a course wire mesh construction which makes it difficult for snail and slugs to traverse, I know,............ I experimented with some.

So does this then indicate a flying muncher ???? or would mice do this ?

How can this thing survive a poison that I know knocks the socks off of most creepy crawly plant munchers ?

The only avenue left I assume is to fumigate the GH. For the GH owners out there, is this an option, or would it harm the plants???

I am open to any suggestions.

And yes, I even tried my own remedy of drowning the potting mixes but nothing floated to the top.

I am at a total loss and at my wits end how to combat this marauder's nocturnal eating habits.

I can no longer show certain plants in the3 next few months because of the damage they have caused, they are no longer in pristine condition required for judging. AAAAAAHHHHHHH !

[Tobi]

Voles, moles or small mice might be the culprits. Set a few traps Anton and
see if you catch anything. They can climb anywhere!

[Anton]

Eliminate voles and moles, we don't have them here in Oz. )

Mice was a thought, but the munch marks are too small and widespread to be a wee moose loose in the hoos. They would have taken bigger chunks out of the bulbs I think, and I don't think they would be interesterd in muching on leaves.

But, I may be wrong.

[kmarch]

I vote mouse or other similar small critter like that.

[Anton]

The GH IS secure from all but creepy crawlies.

There are no gaps, holes, or other orifici that a moos could squeeze into, I was quite pedantic about that when I built it.

The only gap is the door which is only opened when I go inside, and it is always immediately shut after me even when I go inside the GH.

When I get home from work tonight I'll post some pikkies. The munch marks resemble snail and slug type marks and most are in the middle of the bulbs, where a mouse would tend to go more for the edges.

Mind you the plants have both, that is what is confusing.

[Sea_Sun88]

How about a shrew.They are smaller than a mouse and eat vegetation, leafs, ect.

[kmarch]

Well Anton the proof is there before your eyes. Your greenhouse is apparently not as secure as you think since something is getting in and out and munching in the process....unless the plants are eating each other or you've got futuristic vermin that are transporting themselves in and out of your completely secure greenhouse.

[Tony]

Anton

If you think its snails or slugs, try laying out some copper around the base of the plants. Strip some wire or try and get some copper strips. It will kill the slugs. For mice and such, try sticky traps. That way if it is a bug you might get lucky and catch that also. Tony M.

[pikevi]

Shrews and mice will leave distinguishable teeth marks.

Anton's line of thinking is right.

Could you cover some plants with plastic at night? If you can try and cover as many as you can and leave the ones they are after in trays or some other containers filled with water.

That way you can eliminate the crawlers or positively confirm that the culprits are crawlers( some will invariably drown).

You could also sprinkle some paprika,pepper mix around the pots to ward off the attackers.

I hope you get to contain the problem soon.

Good luck.

[Anton]

OK, NO shrews in Australia.

No mouse droppings, no smell of mouse urine, no sign of snail or slug droppings.

Here's images of the damage.

[Anton]

And some more, plus a couple of pikkies in the GH for general interest.

[BillC]

Anton, sorry to learn about your night muncher and I have a few questions; is your GH reasonably well sealed with the doors and windows closed? Have you attempted to surprise the culprit by making visits at odd times when it is dark armed with a strong light and a parang? Please let me know if you think the GH would retain a gaseous substance for upwards of 15 minutes as I may have the answer to your trouble. I would also like some idea of the L W H of the house.

Bill

[tom499]

Is it totally sealed? Have you got rabbit fencing a foot below the surface all the way round?

It is quite odd, a mouse would usually leave droppings, and to make lots of small nibbles from orchids would surely not be what they want to eat.

but i cannot think of creatur with such a bite size. Mice can sneak in pretty much anywhere mind.

How clear is your greenhouse? I would remove everything but the orchids and have a thorough check in bags of compost etc.

Put down some traps, you may well catch something.

have you got a good sound recorder? It sounds silly, but if you have a good one, and can upload it, with abit of software you can quickly look through it for possible loud sounds during the night.

Depends how quiet your area is mind.

CCTV maybe help too

[Anton]

A brief history.

I used to breed African Lovebirds and bought this small metal aviary to house my Black Masked Lovebirds due to a mouse problem at the time.

It was dug into the ground and surrounded by paving bricks 2 deep, on edge and with a walking path around the aviary of 3 wide. There is gaqlvanized tin 18" wide buried around the perimeter of the aviary.

I NEVER, EVER had a mouse problem in that aviary ! The big avairies, yes, but this one no.

A few years ago it was laying idle after I had sold all my birds to go work in the States and my son converted it into a frog habitat.

As he had tree frogs, to stop them escaping he covered the open, wired areas with shade cloth, sealing it with silicon to also stop the crickets we fed to the frogs escaping and creating a deafening noise in our yard at night.

Again never had a problem with mice, they love both frogs and crickets.

Son "finds othr interests" abandons "frogarium" and so dad converts it to a GH. I dug the floor out to 2 1/2 feet, put in 1 1/2 feety of paving sand, compacted it hard, laid pavers on the floor, and around the edge where I had dug out, laid pavers on edge and cemented them around the inside perimeter of the GH.

NO WAY can a mouse get in there unless they chew on the shade cloth, then there would be signs of "forced entry.

At present it is also sealed inside and out with bubble wrap as insulation against the cold. The only venting is high up near the roof and to the best of my knowledge I haven't heard of a mouse yet that can scale verticle tin walls 6 feet high !

So BILL, yes it is sealed and the dimensions are L 7 feet, W 5 '5", H 6' 7".

The short answer is if I build something, a lot of planning goes into it before the first nail is hit, measure twice, cut once. I have been a technician all my life and build things to the same phylosophy.

[Tess1]

My first thought was mice, but seeing the damage, snails and slugs scrape the surface of leaves, and it looks a lot like that might be the culprit. It is a puzzle as you have treated the plants recently, still, it wouldnot hurt to put out some snail pellets.

[chefatplay]

An orchid vampire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hang garlic, sharpen a spike, find that coffin in the middle of the day and force sunshine on the bugger!! (good luck, are you wearing a cross with garlic around your neck? Are there any virgins in your home? Put garlic on her, too!!!!)

[pikevi]

The pattern of gnawing is quite inconsistent from plant to plant to be a the work of one culprit. Caterpillars (night dwelling) and perhaps cockroaches are both a possibility.

You could try to spray eucalyptus oil. I have no idea if that will hurt the orchids.
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