In article , Dogger
writes
Last year loads of Beetroot this year the lot failed.

At the risk of changing the thread topic...

.... my beets all came up - but suffered something removing all the
leaves (not that pest homo sapiens for its salads). They recovered but
after a few weeks, the same happened and then they didn't recover. I
realised it was birds, not snails. Sowed a load more and netted them -
and now have a good crop. The later sowings did take a lot longer to
germinate and come through though.

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regards andyw