How do I stop the birds from pecking my tomatoes?
What have you good folks tried?
Thanks
Jerry

Jerry Minasi wrote:

How do I stop the birds from pecking my tomatoes?
What have you good folks tried?
Thanks
Jerry

Put shallow birdbaths of water out for them. Supposedly they are
pecking them for the juice. They are thirsty. They typically don't eat
tomatoes.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Get a few old CDs and hang them on light string or fishing line so they are
free to spin around in the wind . Birds do not like the flashing reflection.
I had cockatoos stealing my passionfruit until I tried the CD trick. It
worked immediately.

Paul Cordell, Nth. Qld. Australia.

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:29:32 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

How do I stop the birds from pecking my tomatoes?
What have you good folks tried?
Thanks
Jerry

Put shallow birdbaths of water out for them. Supposedly they are
pecking them for the juice. They are thirsty. They typically don't eat
tomatoes.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Thanks, but I allready have a birdbath out for them.
Maybe my mistake is that I put out bird food for them every day...Some
thanks I get from them!
Jerry Shirley, Long Island NY

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 11:13:58 GMT, "Pablo" wrote:

Get a few old CDs and hang them on light string or fishing line so they are
free to spin around in the wind . Birds do not like the flashing reflection.
I had cockatoos stealing my passionfruit until I tried the CD trick. It
worked immediately.

Paul Cordell, Nth. Qld. Australia.


Hey Thanks, I'll try that.
Jerry

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:29:32 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

How do I stop the birds from pecking my tomatoes?
What have you good folks tried?
Thanks
Jerry

Put shallow birdbaths of water out for them. Supposedly they are
pecking them for the juice. They are thirsty. They typically don't eat
tomatoes.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Thanks, but I allready have a birdbath out for them.
Maybe my mistake is that I put out bird food for them every day...Some
thanks I get from them!
Jerry Shirley, Long Island NY

You could get a bird net or garden row to throw over the tomatoes
during the day. That would deter them. Although the sparkling CD thing
should work. Is the bird bad secluded away from traffic and movement?
DO you see them using it?

I don't feed the bird here. Maybe you are attracting a bird that is
more damaging. For instance, pigdeons seem to peck at anything on the
ground.

There are twelve tomato plants loaded with fruit here and I don't even
see the birds go near them. None have bird damage. I always cover new
seed cause I have a tons of birds around and they will eat seed from
the ground. Other than that they haven't bothered them.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 18:50:47 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:29:32 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

How do I stop the birds from pecking my tomatoes?
What have you good folks tried?
Thanks
Jerry

Put shallow birdbaths of water out for them. Supposedly they are
pecking them for the juice. They are thirsty. They typically don't eat
tomatoes.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Thanks, but I allready have a birdbath out for them.
Maybe my mistake is that I put out bird food for them every day...Some
thanks I get from them!
Jerry Shirley, Long Island NY

You could get a bird net or garden row to throw over the tomatoes
during the day. That would deter them. Although the sparkling CD thing
should work. Is the bird bad secluded away from traffic and movement?
DO you see them using it?
Yes, It's a large plastic flower pot base. I get at least 100 birds,
squirrels and nine wild turkeys every day. This is about seventy
feet from my garden.

I don't feed the bird here. Maybe you are attracting a bird that is
more damaging. For instance, pigdeons seem to peck at anything on the
ground.

There are twelve tomato plants loaded with fruit here and I don't even
see the birds go near them. None have bird damage. I always cover new
seed cause I have a tons of birds around and they will eat seed from
the ground. Other than that they haven't bothered them.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Yesterday, I hung up, on lines of string along the rows of tomato and
pepper plants, 26 silver CD disks. These I hung on about 15 inches
of string. I'm hoping that these will protect, what's left of my
tomatoes, (10 percent of what I planted). The peppers are still green
so the birds have not bothered them yet.

Jerry, Shirley, Long Island, NY

Jerry Minasi wrote:


Put shallow birdbaths of water out for them. Supposedly they are
pecking them for the juice. They are thirsty. They typically don't eat
tomatoes.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Thanks, but I allready have a birdbath out for them.
Maybe my mistake is that I put out bird food for them every day...Some
thanks I get from them!
Jerry Shirley, Long Island NY

This is an interesting discussion. I have neither pecking nor scarecrows
(CD's) but I do have a birdbath and I do feed the birds. I want birds in my
garden because I want them to eat some of the bugs and leave their
droppings behind so I feed them seed right at the edge of the garden.

Are the birds perhaps pecking at bugs on the tomatoes? Are you certain that
birds are doing the damage and not a squirrel or some mice? I do get
occaisional squirrel bites on things but not enough to bother trapping the
rascals. I've gardened in this location for a few years and had other
gardens and, in every case, putting water out for the birds (kept fresh
daily, ideally kept moving with a steady drip off the end of a garden hose)
has stopped the tomato-pecking problem cold in its tracks.

Step into your garden and take a look around. Something there is eating your
stuff. Since birds are going to visit your garden (and this is not a bad
thing), try to make it a hospitable place for them. If you determine that
the source of the problem is a rodent of some sort, spray your stuff with a
hot-pepper tea.( * )

Your answer is out there ... looking you in the face.

Bill



( * ) put several jalapenos / habaneros through a blender with some water.
Strain (I use old pantyhose bottoms stretched over the opening of my
sprayer). Fill the sprayer with water and add a spreader/sticker such as a
dollop of molasses or a tablespoon of Palmolive (green) dishwashing soap.
Drench the entire plant (also wards off a lot of insects), wetting it to
the point of running off. Repeat as needed - most likely just two or three
weekly applications will take care of things. Remember to rinse veggies
before eating.
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 18:50:47 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:29:32 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

You could get a bird net or garden row to throw over the tomatoes
during the day. That would deter them. Although the sparkling CD thing
should work. Is the bird bad secluded away from traffic and movement?
DO you see them using it?
Yes, It's a large plastic flower pot base. I get at least 100 birds,
squirrels and nine wild turkeys every day. This is about seventy
feet from my garden.
Just thought of this...if the birds are numerous and there are
turkeys...perhaps there is a type of bird dominating the bath. Some
smaller type can't get to the water so it settles for tomatoes. Just
an idea, but maybe a couple of them will satisfy the need. You
certainly have a lot of birds.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 04:09:18 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 18:50:47 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

Jerry Minasi wrote:

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:29:32 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote:

You could get a bird net or garden row to throw over the tomatoes
during the day. That would deter them. Although the sparkling CD thing
should work. Is the bird bad secluded away from traffic and movement?
DO you see them using it?
Yes, It's a large plastic flower pot base. I get at least 100 birds,
squirrels and nine wild turkeys every day. This is about seventy
feet from my garden.
Just thought of this...if the birds are numerous and there are
turkeys...perhaps there is a type of bird dominating the bath. Some
smaller type can't get to the water so it settles for tomatoes. Just
an idea, but maybe a couple of them will satisfy the need. You
certainly have a lot of birds.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

I never see the turkeys drink from the bird bath. nor do they go into
the garden.
I have not noticed any more damage to the garden since installing the
CD's. Though 90% of the tomatoes are NG, the peppers will live to get
Red, ( I hope).
It's fascinating to watch the spectrum of light the sun makes on the
rotating CD!
Jerry Shirley, Long Island, NY