Table of Contents
What is eating my watermelon plants?
The three most dangerous bugs to your melon plant’s health are cucumber beetles, melon aphids and squash vine borers, according to Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.
What animals eat watermelon leaves?
Will Animals Eat Watermelon Plants? ( And How to Protect Them)
- Yes, animals like tree squirrels, rabbits, bugs, etc are common pests that damage garden plants such as watermelon plants.
- Here’s how you can protect your watermelon plants for rabbits and squirrels:
How do you protect watermelon plants from pests?
How to Keep Bugs Off Watermelons
- Avoid planting the watermelons too early in the season when the soil is cold.
- Use floating row covers to keep the soil warm and to protect the plants from green peach aphids (Myzus persicae), a common watermelon pest.
- Prevent additional watermelon stresses, such as infertile, dry soil.
How do I protect my watermelon plants from animals?
Step by step: How to keep rodents off your melons with melon cages
- Get hardware cloth.
- Cut square-sized pieces of hardware cloth large enough to complete encircle your mature melons.
- Secure a cylindrical shape with metal string.
- Create your wire end folds.
- Close one end of your melon cage.
- Cage your melon.
How do I keep squirrels from eating my watermelon?
You can prevent tree squirrels from damaging watermelons by covering them with freestanding, cage-like covers made of chicken wire. However, as with a fence, bend the bottom edge outward and bury the base of the cages in the soil to prevent them from digging beneath.
How do I protect my watermelon from growing?
Keep ripening watermelon from direct contact with soil to prevent rot and protect fruit from pests and rodents. When fruit is about the size of a softball, place it on a bed of straw or cardboard. Setting fruit on a light-reflecting surface, such as aluminum foil, will concentrate heat and speed up ripening.
How do you keep squirrels away from watermelons?
Will rabbits eat watermelon leaves?
The leaves and flowers of a watermelon are not toxic for rabbits to eat. Wild rabbits like to nibble on them while wandering around the garden.
How do you keep squirrels away from watermelon?
Will rabbits eat watermelon?
Yes! Rabbits can eat watermelon – and most will do so with surprising gusto! It’s no great secret that all rabbits have quite a sweet tooth… And the rich, succulent flesh of a watermelon is a treat they’ll surely enjoy. As much as most rabbits love watermelon, it’s not a particularly nutrient dense food.
Do rodents eat watermelon?
Rats, much like people, love sugary treats, and sweet fruits are no exception. Berries are especially a hit with rats. Be aware that red berries can turn a rat’s stool red, which can resemble blood. Other fruits to feed pet rats include pears, watermelon, cantaloupe, kiwi, peaches, plums and grapes.
Are there any pests on my watermelon plants?
Read on to discover some tips and tricks to watermelon pest control. Although there are many, many insects that would love to take a bite out of your melons, some are more common visitors to the garden than others.
What kind of bird eats watermelon in Garden?
Crows are the primary bird enemies of watermelons. They don’t just settle for one melon. They poke a hole in one, extract some of the interior flesh and then move on to another and another.
Why are watermelons bad for the wild animals?
In fact, if you live in an area where certain wild animals are naturally present, you might have to fight to preserve your primacy over the melons you are growing for your own delight. Wild animal damage is likely to be worse in periods of drought because watermelons provide precious moisture.
What do aphids do to a watermelon plant?
Aphids – Tiny and appearing in nearly any color you can imagine, aphids do an amazing amount of damage for their size. Colonies suck the juices from your watermelon’s leaves and excrete a sticky residue that may attract sooty mold. You can treat aphids without chemicals if you just focus a hose on them daily until their numbers are beaten back.