Thanks Kathleen I'll do the same this time, i have lots to plant soon. I'm just starting to collect them & gee there are some nice ones available. As for ur vermin, mind u i think squirrels are pretty cute ! The Peppermint Oil ! Ants & Mice dont particularly like it either, although if its candy their after it might be too good to resist. Clove Oil is good too. I sell essential oils & people tall me their little snippets all the time. There is a product that might be worth a try, it is a possum deterrent called Quasia Chip its from a quasia plant. I dont know if it works but i saw it when i was in the nursery industry. Best of luck ! Steven On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Kathleen Sayce <ksayce@willapabay.org>wrote: > did u plant directly into seed raising mix or soe on top & > cover with fine gravel or something ? > > I recantly planted hundreds of them before i saw they should be on top & > ankered but not covered or they wont grow. > > Steven, > I planted them on top of the soil in the pot with a layer of fine gravel on > top of that. They germinated very well, and then, every few days, the sturdy > little leaves were neatly nibbled off, clearly vole or mice-like rather than > slug-like. I put one pot inside a mesh cover I use for 50 or so pots, to > keep rodents off them, especially squirrels, and even so, that pot gets > nibbled back down every so often. They are squeezing through gaps less than > 1/2 inch wide to get inside. So I'm resorting to a finer mesh, complete > inclosure. > I'll probably find that they shake the entire setup to get at the leaves. > : -) > They leave the other leaves alone on pots in the present inclosure, which > include Pacifica iris, narcissus, moraea, etc. The Rhodophialia leaves are > their target, and must taste like candy to them. > > Kathleen > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >