On Aug 27, 1:27 pm, HarveyMushman HarveyMushman.
wrote:
Hello everybody.

Every evening I close the window and door to my greenhouse after
watering up, and every morning when I return, several of the (usually
ripened) tomatoes on the lowest stems have been half eaten by some sort
of mini-critter with a large appetite and sharp teeth.

Whatever it is seems to be able to reach upto five or six inches high
from the compost level in the pot, and can shift several tomato halves
in one sitting.

What baffles me is that the greenhouse is sealed. I can see only the
tiniest gaps at the base where anything could possibly get in. Whatever
it is is certainly not in there during the daytime - I check every day,
and the greenhouse is very small.

This has happened every single night now for the past three weeks at
least and it's bugging me like crazy now.

Any suggestions or similar experiences?

Thanks!

--
HarveyMushman

Any chance you trapped something in there when you set up the
greenhouse? Or, something slipped in when you had the door open? Six
inches is pretty high for a mouse, but a field mouse can slip through
a hole the diameter of a pencil... so that would be my vote for a
critter that comes and goes as it wishes. But a six-inch field mouse?
Is there a nuclear power plant nearby?

I've seen it suggested on other forums or threads that rodents
probably won't each tomatoes if there is enough water around to drink.
So, maybe leaving a low dish of water near the base of your greenhouse
would satisfy your pest and stop the tomato-mauling.

I posted a blog entry about harvesting tomatoes that might protect
your fruits even if you never figure out what's eating them. In a
controlled greenhouse environment, there should be no need to take my
approach (except to beat rodents), but please check it out and let me
know what you think:

http://www.smallkitchengarden.net/sm...omatoes-a-mess

Good luck.