Calling all gardeners!!
Remember my post a few weeks ago about how well my rookie gardening experience was going? Just as I was anxiously awaiting the taste of that first, ripe, juicy, homegrown tomato, a gang of bushy-tailed bandits struck and left me nothing but empty vines. I had been warned about the bandits by my neighbor who has even sacrificed her granddaughter's stuffed animal to create a scare-cat for her tomato plants. But I was naive; I did not heed her warning.
Hubby first noticed the bandits making off with their booty on Friday as we were preparing to leave for I Love America. He quickly rigged together a make-shift fence to salvage the few tiny fruits that remained.
I went out on Saturday to water the plants and estimate the damage, only to realize that an innovative rodent had somehow shimmied through the fence and made off with the last of my tiny little tomatoes! So, now after much hard work, here I sit, tomato-less.
For all you gardeners out there, how do you keep your precious plants safe from these furry little thieves? I'm desperate for any and all ideas!
6 comments:
Oh no! Are we talking about racoons, squirrels, rabbits??? So far I haven't had that problem. But there are practically NO trees anywhere in site in this (new) neighborhood, let alone any wooded areas. Were we still at our home in AL this could've been a problem b/c we had squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, opposums... Anyway, I'm sorry you're having this problem, that's so frustrating! Hopefully your plants will put out new blooms and you can have the 2nd harvest!
I think you should camo yourself up and sit next to your tomato plant real still. When the critter gets close, wack'em with a set of num-chucks.
It doesn't work for everyone, but I haven't lost a tomato yet this year.
You could also setup an electric fence around each of your plants.
Good luck... I know it's frustrating.
That is so terrible! We have big dogs so I don't think we get any critters in our backyard. My dogs dug up my strawberries which was very frustrating.
I agree with the electric fence route, although that may be hard with the kiddos. I know several people that have fish ponds and they put fences around those so the raccoons don't get their fish and it works well.
I hope Lora is right and you get a 2nd harvest!
Heather
Sorry I didn't clarify...we are talking about squirrels. I've actually seen them laid out on top of the kids' covered sand table with their tight little bellies, a look of sheer contentment on their faces, and a half-eaten green tomato lying next to them! If it weren't MY tomatoes, it would almost be cute!
You'd think our 85-pound dog would be a deterrent, but our giant scaredy-dog is terrified of loud noises (read "fireworks") and can't bear the heat, so he's been inside most days lately.
My mom suggested tying an aluminum pie tin to a string and hanging it from the tomato stake. (Supposedly the noise when the wind blows scares them off.) I'm going to try it as soon as I can find an aluminum pie tin. Apparently I gave or threw away the ones I had, and I haven't made it to the store yet.
If that doesn't work, I'm breakin' out the camo, Andy!
I found that squirrels will eat tomatoes for fluids. You may put out some water for them... maybe something like a birdbath maybe. Once they have a taste of the tomatoes... they say it is tough to keep them away.
I also read the to put out something they like better... such as peanuts or corn. Just a thought.
If that doesn't work, put out another tomato plant and put a sign in front of it saying "Squirrels Tomato Plants" and another sign in front of your plants that say "Nancy's Tomato Plants".
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