In article ,
"Brerfox" wrote:

However, I find that hardly any seeds germinate in the bed -- nothing much
comes through. I can germinate the seeds successfully in seedling
containers in my fern house, then transplant them, and they grow OK. Over
the period I've tried direct seed sowing of beetroot, lettuces, silverbeet,
tomatoes, broccoli, all to no avail.
Could it be ants? We have millyuns and millyuns of little tiny ones all
over the place.

More likely snails -- have you laid any bait? I get carnage in the snail
population when I bait new seedling beds.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.