Heidi,

I tried to spray the tomatoes, rather than the foliage (and blooms),
because the product is advertised as an insecticide, and I was worried
about discouraging pollinating insects. I also sprayed the fruits
directly because I had been having a problem with some type of boring
pest. I also sprayed the lower stalks liberally and sprinkled ground
red pepper on the ground around the plants.

I don't think the pepper wax is able to penetrate the skin of the
tomatoes, so taste was not affected, as far as I could tell. It seems
like a fairly weak solution and it seems to readily wash off (the name
is pepper 'wax,' but it has the consistency of water and leaves no
residue that I can see).

One problem though, is that I started to get a lot of cracking. Perhaps
a combination of the recent cooler nights and spraying the fruits
directly?

I think that I was able to keep squirrels out of the whole area by
application near the ground, so from now on, I am spraying the fruits
very lightly or not at all.

So ... my methodology needs a little fine-tuning, but I would have to
say that my squirrel issues are over! I definitely feel like the
product is effective, because I was also able to get squirrels to stop
digging in potted plants on the back deck by spraying just the pots.



In article ,
Heidi wrote:

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the follow up and tip on hotpepper wax. I will bookmark the
site.

Here is a silly question for you: did you mean you put the hpw right on
the tomatoes? Were you able to wash it off or did it affect the taste
when it was time for you to eat them?

Glad you found a good solution (and shared it w/us)!
Heidi




--
Mark
Raleigh, NC USA