Thief in the garden

I've never grown onions successfully so this year I decided to try growing walking onions as an alternative. The bulbs were not cheap and they're not easy to find, but from what I've been told once you have them going in your garden, you'll have them for life (or until you pull them all out).

I planted five bulbs in a pot, and two of those are coming in nicely. Fine. But the other three...

Few days ago I discovered one bulb had been pulled out and was just lying loosely on top of the soil nearby. I thought it was strange but didn't overthink it. Just planted it back into the soil where it was originally and went on about my day. Then today, all three of the bulbs that had not sprouted yet are missing, including the one I stuck back in. They're completely gone. I dug around and even pulled up the soil surrounding their location. They're nowhere to be found.

What on earth would pull up an onion bulb? I have lots of birds in my garden. The towhees are particularly fond of foraging close to where the onions were planted. But I can't imagine a bird thinking an onion bulb would make a tasty treat, given there are much better choices nearby. Mice? Ants? Arthropods? I'm completely stumped.

Meanwhile, I've planted replacement bulbs, sprinkled cinnamon around the perimeter of the pot and moved the pot to new location.

Squirrels! They do that all the time to me. I cover the soil surface with stones and that prevents it.

Squirrels or those pesky chipmunks are the culprits on my homestead. I love when I plant a ton of tulips and the chipmunks decide to relocate them throughout my lawn. Adds a little touch of chaos to the landscape!

Welcome to the forum! I am so sorry to hear this has happened.

That sounds like the onions met a deer.  Do you have deer? the reason I say this is because that is what deer do when they do not like the taste of something.  They spit it out.

I lost all my walking onion to feral hogs who liked the taste of them.  

This does not sound like birds to me though, who knows?

I hope you have better luck with the replacements.  save the seed heads and you will never need to buy replacements again.

Thom Bri wrote:Squirrels! They do that all the time to me. I cover the soil surface with stones and that prevents it.

Yep! That's it. We have ground squirrels. I never dreamed they would like onion bulbs, but here we are. Thank you! I've discovered that they really don't like tulle, or any kind of netting fabric. So this will be an easy fix. I'll simply wrap the pot the onions are in with tulle, that should send them looking for something else.

Thank you so much! xo

Anne Miller wrote:Welcome to the forum! I am so sorry to hear this has happened.

That sounds like the onions met a deer.  Do you have deer? the reason I say this is because that is what deer do when they do not like the taste of something.  They spit it out.

I lost all my walking onion to feral hogs who liked the taste of them.  

This does not sound like birds to me though, who knows?

I hope you have better luck with the replacements.  save the seed heads and you will never need to buy replacements again.

We don't have deer. But we do have ground squirrels! Someone else in the comments mentioned squirrels, and that instantly resonated. They've been a real nuisance in my chicken yard. I just never dreamed they'd develop a taste for onions. Thank you so much! Yes, I plan to save the bulbs so I can share them with neighbors if I have more than I need. I've heard walking onions are great in stir fry, and we do love our wok

Timothy Norton wrote:Squirrels or those pesky chipmunks are the culprits on my homestead. I love when I plant a ton of tulips and the chipmunks decide to relocate them throughout my lawn. Adds a little touch of chaos to the landscape!

It's definitely squirrels! Thank you If these were the cute tree squirrels, I might not mind so much. But what we have are the pesky destructive ground squirrels. There's no welcome mat at my home for them. They literally dug up a neighbor's foundation, ate all the wires, broke thru the plumbing underground. Her home's add-on started to collapse. These furry guys are not cute.

kristine lewis wrote:

Timothy Norton wrote:Squirrels or those pesky chipmunks are the culprits on my homestead. I love when I plant a ton of tulips and the chipmunks decide to relocate them throughout my lawn. Adds a little touch of chaos to the landscape!

It's definitely squirrels! Thank you If these were the cute tree squirrels, I might not mind so much. But what we have are the pesky destructive ground squirrels. There's no welcome mat at my home for them. They literally dug up a neighbor's foundation, ate all the wires, broke thru the plumbing underground. Her home's add-on started to collapse. These furry guys are not cute.

One summer with 'cute' tree squirrels would cure you of that opinion. We have both, and neither is worse than the other. I live trap the chipmunks in my foundations and release them 4 miles away at my big garden. Don't care if they chew things there. Cute little buggers so I don't kill them. Couldn't bring myself to kill the groundhog that devastated the sprouts this spring.

I have found cayenne sprinkled in my garden does the trick. I know it's kind of cruel, but it causes no long term harm, and teaches them quick my garden is a painful place to forage.
I also use chicken wire. It's ugly, but makes a big difference for me. Something kept eating my pea sprouts. Rat, or birds, I'm not sure. Now I put a chicken wire tent over the peas when I plant. When they reach the top of the tent I remove it. This is easier, and cheaper than sprinkling cayenne every time I water.