OK - What kind of varmint is pulling out my onion bulbs??? - Yesterday morning I noticed that there were perfect round holes where some of my onions had been planted just days before and some of the bulbs were laying on the ground half eaten. I have never had this happen before! Thanks

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), April 24, 2000

Answers

Good news! You've got earthworms. The earthworms are doing much more good for your garden than they are doing harm to your onions. I just keep swearing under my breath and shoving the onions back in the ground. Eventually, the worms give up. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), April 24, 2000.

I believed the old story that gophers wouldn't eat garlic or onions. I planted 1000's of them all around my fence line. (I like allums anyway)

Well not only did the gophers eat half the garlic and onions, but the squirrels ate the other half!

Gophers at least take the whole plant down under so I don't know it if was eaten or not...but them darn squirrels have to take a bite of everything!

-- XRhodes (xrhodes@usa.com), April 26, 2000.

We have gophers and voles, and they seem to actually be repelled by the onions. When I put in onion sets, the birds, both wild birds and the ducks, pull them out for a nibble(the green tips look like grass) get disgusted, and try a different one! They don't seem to figure out that the whole bed is in onions, they just keep pulling them up, and leave them on the ground when they taste the onion.Sure is aggravating! We have a lot of earthworms, and earthworms eat only dead tissue and earth, not onions. You could try putting a floating row cover over the onions and see if that helps. If it does, it's probably the birds getting yours,too. I know the birds get ours because I have watched them do it.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 30, 2000.