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Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season.
1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article , Mark wrote:
The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! I generally plant more than I can use so I don't fuss about them or the birds getting a few. Pepper spray is probably safest - just remember to wash them first. I gave up on corn though since they got 2 ears for every 1 I got. -- Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please. spam@www.spam.com is a garbage address. |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
I can personally vouch for the ineffectiveness of plastic owls/snakes to
scare squirrels. I've tried both. The plastic snakes nailed to our house siding did manage to scare off the woodpeckers, as long as the snakes position is rotated ever week or so. However, neither the owls or the snakes ever scared off the squirrels in our yard. (If you want to buy a plastic snake they have them at dollar stores). I needed to scare off the woodpeckers b/c they have put so many holes into the cedar siding of our house! I found the squirrels would not go near any areas that I had sprinkled dried blood. But while the dried blood seemed to repel the squirrels, it sure attracted our dogs who attempted to eat it! Good luck! Heidi Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
Have you tried distracting them by placing something they like in another
area of the yard away from the tomatoes? Earlier this summer I had squirrels that decided to empty my bird feeders hanging from a large pine tree in the back yard. I also have a bunch of tomato plants with lots of ripe tomatoes and they have not touched them yet. I have a friend who feeds squirrels in her back yard just to watch their quirky behavior and she feeds them corn. It's that corn you buy for animals to nibble. I'm not really sure of the exact name. Reminds me of what we used call cow corn (grown up north for cows to eat). It's worth a try. A cat might help too. I've got 3 cats (2 in/outdoor and 1 indoor). The 2 cats that hunt are very good at keeping voles/moles/snakes out of the yard. They always leave me souvenirs. That's probably another reason I don't see squirrels around my tomatoes. Good luck. Let us know if what you try works. Penny "Mark" wrote in message ... The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article ,
Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. Chicken wire or hardware cloth formed into a tube around the plants. It's cheap and readily available at Lowes et al, albeit not exactly attractive. If the plants are in containers, run the tube around the outside of the container and wedge some under the bottom. If in the ground, bury the wire about six inches underground. It will tend to discourage digging. Use wire ties to tie the sides together so that you can get access into the tubes easily to get at the tomatos. -- Steve Holzworth "Do not attribute to poor spelling That which is actually poor typing..." Senior Systems Developer - me SAS Institute - Cary, N.C. - Open Systems R&D UNIX/VMS/MAC |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article ,
Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. These are some really good ideas! A barrier like chicken wire would probably be the most reliable, but this is a strip right next to the side of the house and only about 18' from the house next door, so there are aesthetic issues with that. But if nothing else works, I may do that when I plant next year. Dried blood sounds interesting. What is it mainly used for? Can you get it at gardening places (or do you have to make your own)? ;- I am going to take an incremental approach. First, spray some pepper around. The missus has a line on some red round Christmas ornaments, so I may add those next. Maybe some 'decoy' corn in the back yard ... I have only 12 plants. They did so poorly earlier (bugs, rain, squirrels) but they are now getting a second wind and blooming like crazy, so I want to be able to enjoy a few more of my own tomatoes this summer! Thanks much. Will post results. -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
HI Mark,
You can buy dried blood at HD or Lowes in the garden/soil additives section. It's fairly cheap. Dried blood is high in nitrogen and is often used to green up plants. I did not need to use much blood to deter the squirrels in our yard. I wouldn't over use the dried blood, or your tomatoes will stop producing fruit from too much nitrogen. But, it shouldn't hurt to sprinkle a few tablespoons around the plants. Good luck! Heidi Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
actually, if your squirrels are like our squirrels, what they're doing is
taking a bite or two out of the tomatoes and sucking out the water because they're thirsty. they don't really like the tomatoes. what we used to do is set out peanuts and bowls of water for the little critters and they left our crops alone. try that and let us know what happens! pat |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
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Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
Mark wrote:
Now I am getting some kind of little white critters boring into the fruits and clustering under the leaves. They are about half the size of a grain of white rice. I guess they are some type of caterpillar. I hate to use chemicals, but I think I am going to have to spray. I'm guessing the little white guys are aphids? If so, you can rid them by spraying the plant with horticulture oil. I'm not sure if you can find this at Lowes, but I know Homewood sells a horticulture oil called All Season's Oil. I believe what happens is the oil smothers the aphids. It is not a chemical, which makes me feel safer using it around dogs, and food that I am going to eat! :) Heidi Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article ,
Heidi wrote: Thanks much for the info. I was not aware of horticultural oil - it certainly sounds better than insecticide. I did get a bag of dried blood at a local hardware store. I will try it if the pepper doesn't work (I can always use it for fall planting if I don't use it on the tomatoes). I also got a cayenne pepper oil spray product. I got the spray for the squirrels but it may work on the insects as well. Although I have lost one more tomato since I sprinkled ground red pepper on Thursday, I think it may be having an effect! Mark wrote: Now I am getting some kind of little white critters boring into the fruits and clustering under the leaves. They are about half the size of a grain of white rice. I guess they are some type of caterpillar. I hate to use chemicals, but I think I am going to have to spray. I'm guessing the little white guys are aphids? If so, you can rid them by spraying the plant with horticulture oil. I'm not sure if you can find this at Lowes, but I know Homewood sells a horticulture oil called All Season's Oil. I believe what happens is the oil smothers the aphids. It is not a chemical, which makes me feel safer using it around dogs, and food that I am going to eat! :) Heidi Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article ,
Heidi wrote: Thanks much for the info. I was not aware of horticultural oil - it certainly sounds better than insecticide. I did get a bag of dried blood at a local hardware store. I will try it if the pepper doesn't work (I can always use it for fall planting if I don't use it on the tomatoes). I also got a cayenne pepper oil spray product. I got the spray for the squirrels but it may work on the insects as well. Although I have lost one more tomato since I sprinkled ground red pepper on Thursday, I think it may be having an effect! Mark wrote: Now I am getting some kind of little white critters boring into the fruits and clustering under the leaves. They are about half the size of a grain of white rice. I guess they are some type of caterpillar. I hate to use chemicals, but I think I am going to have to spray. I'm guessing the little white guys are aphids? If so, you can rid them by spraying the plant with horticulture oil. I'm not sure if you can find this at Lowes, but I know Homewood sells a horticulture oil called All Season's Oil. I believe what happens is the oil smothers the aphids. It is not a chemical, which makes me feel safer using it around dogs, and food that I am going to eat! :) Heidi Mark wrote: The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
Mark, I think "horticultural oil" may be the same as the dormant oil sprayed on fruit trees before they bud out. To the best of my knowledge, the oil smothers the insects rather than poisoning them. Just make sure that the oil is not mixed with something else. In the old days, people used to spray fruit trees with dormant oil spray & sulfur (or something), but I don't recall whether the two were mixed together.
I just googled for "horticultural oil" and found out that it's apparently a lighter grade of mineral oil than dormant oil spray. I also found a recipe at Organic Gardening http://www.organicgardening.com/library/ for making your own spray, which might be worth a try: Home Horticultural Oil Recipe: Mix 1 cup of cottonseed or soybean oil with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap; use 1 to 1½ teaspoons per cup of water to spray. When applying, make sure the temperature is below 85 degrees F and that plants are not drought- or heat-stressed. _________________________ Anne Lurie "Mark" wrote in message ... Thanks much for the info. I was not aware of horticultural oil - it certainly sounds better than insecticide. I did get a bag of dried blood at a local hardware store. I will try it if the pepper doesn't work (I can always use it for fall planting if I don't use it on the tomatoes). |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
a pellet gun works great for me!
dookie "Mark" wrote in message ... The squirrels are eating what few tomatoes I am getting this season. 1,000 pardons if this gets asked every week! Google searching has uncovered these suggestions; - Spread moth balls around the garden (toxic active ingredient?) - Rat poison (way too dangerous to pets) - Plastic owl/snakes (seems like the rodents would catch on pretty quickly) - Christmas Tree ornaments - Spray pepper sauce on the fruits Just wondering if folks here have any methods that they are happy with. Thanks much! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
Squirrels Eating My Tomatoes!
In article ,
(Patskywriter) wrote: actually, if your squirrels are like our squirrels, what they're doing is taking a bite or two out of the tomatoes and sucking out the water because they're thirsty. they don't really like the tomatoes. what we used to do is set out peanuts and bowls of water for the little critters and they left our crops alone. try that and let us know what happens! pat [Followup] Pardon me for the delay, but I wanted to give it enough time to be sure if it worked ... I started out by sprinkling chili powder and ground red pepper on the ground around the plants. Then I treated the leaves and fruits with Hot Pepper Wax http://www.hotpepperwax.com/default.htm. The product is 0.00001125% capsaicin. I believe that it is primarily used for insect control, but according to their web site, it is also a "registered animal repellent effective against rabbits and tree squirrels." It is around 10.00 for a 22oz. spray bottle at the local nursery. This seems to be working great, as I have had only one small bite mark out of 15-25 tomatoes since late August. It also seems to be controlling insect pests (but I do wonder if it is deterring pollinating insects, as well). Anyway, I just wanted to drop back by and say that I think I've found a relatively benign way to keep the squirrels away from my tomatoes. Thanks again for all of the great tips! -- Mark Raleigh, NC USA |
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