Worldwide Beekeeping

Sustainable Living => Homestead => Topic started by: Bakersdozen on June 23, 2019, 10:19:50 am

Title: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on June 23, 2019, 10:19:50 am
I am not sure that this posting should go under homestead, but as no one has posted here in a very long time, I will.
In between storms yesterday, I think I have gotten my tomatoes squirrel proofed.
1 1/2 weeks ago I dug up a bed of Iris to build a 5x5 raised bed for tomatoes.  Got that done and planted my tomatoes that I had started from seed.  There was also room for some peppers around the edges.  I got excellent germination from a heirloom variety, Ace 55.
Yesterday, I put up 6 ft. frame around the bed and covered it with bird netting.   I also did the same over part of another bed that I had redone for lavender.  That bed is another story, but at the end of the lavender bed I put 2 tomatoes that are doing very well and have fruit on them.  If my tomatoes produce, the harvest is going to be very late.  Tomatoes need sun and moisture.  We got the moisture, still waiting for lots of sun.
I am told that bird netting is sufficient to deter squirrels.  I hope my source is right.  I know my terrier mix dog is trying his best, but he has to nap sometime. 
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: neillsayers on June 23, 2019, 02:12:44 pm
Ought to work. Tagging in for updates.  :)
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on June 24, 2019, 01:40:33 pm
Well, like I said the dog is trying.  I just watched him kill another big, fat squirrel!  The trick is getting the dog to give up his kill.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: neillsayers on June 24, 2019, 02:48:12 pm
Puppie just wants a snack! :D
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on July 22, 2019, 08:15:04 pm
Update:  The bird netting is working!  It's a no squirrel zone.  Tomatoes are starting to ripen.  I've picked 3 beautiful tomatoes!  It's been too hot for any more fruit to set, but I hope to have fruit set this fall.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Newbee on May 12, 2020, 07:48:22 am
Thanks for sharing BakersDozen.
I'm currently wrangling with a group of squirrels in my new garden who developed a taste for seed corn.
I can tell harvest is going to be hard enough if they're going after the seeds this hard.
So far the only solution has been 36 or 40 grains at a time. I think I'll give some of this netting idea a try on a few other crops I have out there.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on May 12, 2020, 09:43:51 am
The only problem I had with the bird netting was that it caught birds.  I don't mean starlings.  I caught a wren and a Goldfinch.  The wren I was able to cut lose, but I was too late for the Goldfinch.  I haven't put it up yet this year.  Perhaps I will wait until the plants set fruit and they start to mature.  We have had frost warnings the last 3 nights.  Those tomato plants are just setting there.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Zweefer on May 20, 2020, 09:46:19 am
I'd be interested to see if the squirrels try again, or if they have learned that area is a no go zone...
Best of luck!
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on June 24, 2020, 08:54:02 am
Well, here we are again.  I have 5 tomato plants in the ground.  The rabbits started nibbling on the top tender shoots when they were little.  I put rabbit fencing around the tomato bed and that stopped the rabbits.  The top is open, so far.  I read that squirrels don't like coffee grounds, so that's where the used coffee grounds are going.  I will have to put some type of top over the tomatoes eventually.  Suggestions regarding a top from anyone?  The dog has earned his keep terrorizing the squirrels and keeping the numbers down but those little stinkers can ruin a tomato harvest quick.
My neighbors has 2 tomato plants and they are twice the size of mine. 
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: iddee on June 24, 2020, 10:54:08 am
Squirrel in the stew pot in the winter means no tomato problem in the summer.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Zweefer on June 24, 2020, 09:23:29 pm
That sounds very proverbesque iddee...
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: LazyBkpr on July 01, 2020, 11:10:42 pm
Squirrel in the stew pot in the winter means no tomato problem in the summer.

   LOL  mostly what I was thinking too!
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on July 02, 2020, 09:03:17 am
We have a couple of tomatoes that are starting to ripen.  I placed some inexpensive string trellis type stuff, over the top of the bed, hoping the squirrels won't like it.  I have rabbit fencing around the tomato bed.  I read that squirrels don't like coffee grounds, so we have been adding spent grounds around the base of the plants.  I don't know if it's true, but it can't hurt.
The bird netting, that I used last year, was rather expensive.  I found a wren entangled in the net.  I was able to cut it out.  I didn't find the goldfinch, also caught in the net, in time.  I really hated that.

Meanwhile, the dog is on the job.  He eliminated a juvenile squirrel yesterday.  Good boy!

(https://i.ibb.co/F6KqGmJ/Super-fan-Oscar.jpg) (https://ibb.co/F6KqGmJ)
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: iddee on July 02, 2020, 11:45:02 am
I would check the PH of the coffee grounds. Lime is added to tomato plant soil to raise the PH and prevent root rot. If coffee grounds are low PH, they may increase root rot.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on July 03, 2020, 09:56:36 am
Thanks for the tip, iddee.  I never thought about that.  The pH of the soil, around here, is usually 7.  I have heard of old timers adding Epsom Salts.  I believe that helps with the flavor of the fruit.  The normal maladies in this part of the country include blossom end rot, tomato hornworms, and squirrels.  I have been fertilizing with fish fertilizer.   No tomato hornworms or blossom end rot, just squirrels!  Today I will pick my first tomato.  It's on the smallish side.  We'll see how it tastes.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Newbee on July 15, 2020, 04:14:37 pm
I purchased one of those inflatable owl-shaped balloons at a local nursery supply place, and it's worked pretty well!
I've noticed a big reduction in squirrel and rabbit activity around my garden down in the pasture (upper garden is fenced). I dare to say they haven't gone in it since... Interestingly enough, I've also noticed a hawk seems to like hanging out in the pasture early in the mornings, too? It was rather active the first day I set it up, so I don't know if it's just co-incidence, or it's got him fooled, too.

- K

https://dalenproducts.com/products/scarecrow-devices/natural-enemy-scarecrow-inflatable-owl/
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Zweefer on July 27, 2020, 11:06:05 am
Today I will pick my first tomato.  It's on the smallish side.  We'll see how it tastes.

Well? How were / are they?
Inquiring Minds want to know!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on July 27, 2020, 04:55:04 pm
They taste fine and some of them are really heavy.  That's a good thing!  I have managed to keep the squirrels and rabbits out while not killing any birds.  I am finding that some of my tomato plants were mislabeled.  :o  More like customers juggled the labels around.
I have made numerous mistakes with these tomatoes.  I planted too close, bought mislabeled plants, didn't put down mulch, and I am letting blue vine grow around the fencing.  I have faithfully watered though.  Anyway, we have plenty for us and we all know that nothing tastes better than a homegrown tomato.
Blue vine is in the milkweed family and is one of the few nectar sources blooming now. 
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: neillsayers on July 30, 2020, 12:31:46 pm
B13,
 I have long said that once you eat a homegrown vine ripened tomato you'll never buy another green-picked-shipped-from-california tomato. As for mislabeling, either customers or nursery workers who don't care.
 My bride, who is big into seed-saving heirlooms, believes the seed company are defrauding buyers by using the old favorite names on their varieties. :o
 Coffee grounds may bring your pH down a bit, but a base pH of 7 could stand to come down to 6 or 6.5.
 Glad the netting worked, sorry about the poor finch.

 :)


I just noticed my avatar pic is getting old. My beard is almost totally white now. Will have to update soon.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: .30WCF on May 05, 2022, 09:44:20 pm

(https://i.ibb.co/LrTDR1T/2-D268406-82-CE-45-D7-A4-C2-9-A5239-AFA194.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LrTDR1T)
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Bakersdozen on May 06, 2022, 10:53:05 am

(https://i.ibb.co/LrTDR1T/2-D268406-82-CE-45-D7-A4-C2-9-A5239-AFA194.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LrTDR1T)

 :D
We live within city limits so I leave that job up to the terrier!  He snagged another one yesterday!
This year I started my tomatoes from seed and they are ready to go in the ground.  We've had such crummy weather that they are still sitting in pots. We've had late freezes, high winds, and heavy rains that are timed as such that the soil stays saturated.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: LazyBkpr on May 06, 2022, 11:24:52 am
Usually Air rifles are legal in most cities...   I once got a dog to keep the deer and squirrels out of the garden...   I thought h3e was seriously slacking in his job... until one day I watched him, VERY carefully select a ripe tomato, carry it out of the garden and then eat the whole thing.....    ???
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: iddee on May 06, 2022, 11:56:36 am
Just remember, there are squirrel seasons. A hunting out of season ticket price would buy many tomatoes.
Also, every time you kill a nursing mother, sleep well knowing the babies are slowly starving to death.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: LazyBkpr on May 08, 2022, 11:25:08 am
Just remember, there are squirrel seasons. A hunting out of season ticket price would buy many tomatoes.
Also, every time you kill a nursing mother, sleep well knowing the babies are slowly starving to death.


   A call to the local game warden.. he didn't even come out just told me to go ahead and shoot them.... and gave me a lic number over the phone...  (But I do live in Rural Iowa) And... I dont sleep badly at all... if they stayed out of my garden I would love watching them playing in the yard, and my Dog LOVES chasing them, though rarely catches one....   They are hugely entertaining, if they weren't so destructive....
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: iddee on May 08, 2022, 12:56:43 pm
If they are destroying your property, kill them.

Tell us about the destruction the nursing babies did. I'm all ears.
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: LazyBkpr on May 08, 2022, 11:06:19 pm
True, the nursing babies are not destructive until they grow up and move out... chew through my soffit and try to make a new home in my attic. AND it costs me new soffit, wiring, and AC lines that they also chewed, twice. At which point the mercy and morality I try to uphold and maintain begins to fail.
   
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Gypsi on May 11, 2022, 08:37:00 pm
I wish I was tall enough to get my bird netting on my peach and pear trees. The squirrels eat all the young fruit and nothing left. Last year I got one pear from 2 trees.  Tomatoes they don't bother, they have bigger plants to rob
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: LazyBkpr on May 12, 2022, 02:10:56 pm
HAHA! So the secret to tomatoes is to plant fruit trees!!!!!    ;D
Title: Re: Squirrel proofing tomatoes
Post by: Zweefer on May 12, 2022, 05:26:16 pm
 :goodone: