Welcome to today’s daily kōrero!

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4 points

Blackbirds are my nemesis every Spring. Digging up newly composted beds and destroying seedlings in the process sometimes 😡 Also eating all our berries!

They are lucky I need them to pollinate my feijoa hedge otherwise I would try to eradicate them

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3 points

I’m trialling a pest netting this spring because the birds destroyed all my seedlings last year. Its supposed to keep bugs out as well - so will be interesting to see how it goes. Of course i’m waiting for the frosts to stop so I can’t start putting something in the ground without risk of it dying!

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2 points

I should really do it too. I keep thinking of doing it every year but then I forget about it. Another reason is I avoid growing brassicas most of the warm season due to white butterfly, so if I actually do it I can get some nice looking brassicas.

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2 points

Bacillus thuringiensis is the answer, for me anyway, for white butterfly. It’s organic approved - from a natural bacteria found in soil.

It’s the only spray I use (besides pyrethrum). It disrupts the catapiller and keeps brassicas from being eaten.

You buy it as a powder and mix a tiny amount with water (a drop of detergent helps) and spray about every two weeks. I highly recommend it.

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3 points
*

Yep. We struggled for a year or two trying to keep them of gardens. Just use netting now, and don’t have problems. Occasionally “catch” a cheeky sparrow that finds a gap somewhere, but they don’t do any harm. When plants are big enough we take off the netting so the birds can have at the bugs. Mostly works for us.

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2 points

Now I do remember once I had netted my black berries and a blackbird got itself all tangled and ended up strangling itself. Took ages to get it out. I’ve kind of just given up on stopping them from getting the berries. Just aim to grow enough for both them and us.

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3 points

I see your Nemesis of Blackbirds and raise you a Chaos of Weka.

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3 points

Ah yeah I’m lucky I don’t have to deal with that :)

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