Hi all! Just joined.

[ZBQ]

Hi all!
I just planted my first tomatoes last year and I really want to expand this year. They did really well where I had them planted but it is such a small area I can only get 3 plants in there. I want to make another bed but my problem is deer. They are thick around here. I have a picture of two of them laying in the shade 6 feet from our pool out back!! I would have thought the chlorine smell would have kept them away. Guess I thought wrong.

The area I planted them in last year is right up next to the house behind the stairs to the deck. That is the only area that is actually "sheltered" where the deer didn't get to them. But who knows they might go in there this year.

I am sure this has been discussed ad nauseum but I did a search and could not find anything.

Do you guys know of any tricks to keep deer out of your tomatoes? I also am going to be planting some basil. Since I made pesto for the wife last year she can't get enough.

Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated.
Neil

[montanamato]

A dog works best here. It is the only way I could garden or have chickens. Our dogs are working dogs and don't mind "doing time" next to the garden. They get some attention from the kids and keep the varmits away.
Welcome.

Jeanne

[Mischka]

I have used deer netting combined with some sachets made from dog fur to ward off marauding deer here.

You can find deer netting in most farm/garden supply stores; it's also lightweight and inexpensive to ship. You can order it online from a lot of garden supply sites.

Dog fur can be had for free. Look up a dog groomer in the phone book and call them...ask them if they wouldn't mind saving you some clippings.

You can make sachets of the fur using those wedding favor tulle bags. Most craft stores and party supply stores sell them inexpensively.

If they are hungry enough, you may have to resort to rigging up some type of motion-activated device that emits a loud noise or bright flashes of light.

I have a peacock here that rules my property with an iron fist. He's chased just about anything that moves out of the yard at one time or another...my UPS guy won't get out of his truck if he sees him loose. :wink:

[timcunningham]

I use a fish / seaweed spray as an foliar spray, it keeps your plants healthy, improves yields and as an extra bonus keeps deer away. It seems that Deer dislike the fish smell as much as my "Dear" wife. But I swear the smell isn't that strong or bad... she is just, sensitive.

Tim

Link if you are interested: http://www.neptunesharvest.com/productinformation.asp

[melody]

I have a friend who swears by Irish Spring bar soap. He hangs it at 6' incriments around his veggie garden at about 2 1/2' to 3' high. Just drills a hole through it and loops a rope through it.

I have a dog and no deer.

[WildLife]

Welcome Welcome,
Glad to see another umm, err Tomato Head

As far as the deer problem,I have no personell exper.
My cousins who live in the mountains of Santa Cruz
Ca have plenty. He (my cuz) tells me that the only
meathod that works for him is the low volt electric
wire. His unit is old and has craftman (Sears) label
on it. Pretty simple setup, 1 wire 4 or so feet
of the ground around what ever he needs to protect.
I hope there are people here who can give the particulars.
Wild "buzz buzz" Life

[Miss_Mudcat]

I'll second the "get a dog" idea. In 2004, we had no dog and the deer would eat from our garden in broad daylight. There would be 8 deer happily munching at any given time. In 2005, we got a dog. Now the deer keep to the outskirts of the garden near the woods. I plant the perimeter with sunflowers and gourds which only interests them slightly.

Good luck!

Lisa

P.S. Buckshot does the trick too! In season of course!

[Suze]

Originally Posted by Mischka

I have a peacock here that rules my property with an iron fist. He's chased just about anything that moves out of the yard at one time or another...my UPS guy won't get out of his truck if he sees him loose. :wink:

I believe it -- peacocks are alpha males w/a capital 'A'. My mother in law used to have peafowl about and they don't put up with any nonsense.

I've seen big 100+ pound dogs be scared off by a proud and alert peacock.

Do they eat tomatoes?

[ZBQ]

Thanks for the info guys!

Bad thing is, we have 3 Shui tzus who use the yard but are indoor dogs. There is a St. Bernard in a kennel about 75 ft from the house and the deer just calmly walk on past him (with in 5-10 ft.) while they look over at him as he barks his head off. Across the road the guy has 12-15 dogs who constantly bark day and night. I am pretty sure our yard is saturated with dog "smell" so I doubt that anything dealing with a dog is going to work. They are drawn to our property because the neighbor has peach, apple and pear trees. To top it off, they feed them. They have pics of them standing on their hind legs lapping the bird seed out of the feeder!!

I have heard of the Irish Spring before. The guy that told me about it said it has to be the green kind, no other.

The local greenhouse was selling a spray last year that they said worked really well but it stunk really bad and had to be reapplied after rains.

Thinking about trying a combo of the spray and the Irish Spring. Mabey netting too.

Any other "solutions" you can come up with (short of a 12 ga. slug ) will be appreciated.

Neil

[Mischka]

Originally Posted by Suze

I believe it -- peacocks are alpha males w/a capital 'A'. My mother in law used to have peafowl about and they don't put up with any nonsense.

I've seen big 100+ pound dogs be scared off by a proud and alert peacock.

Do they eat tomatoes?

They love tomatoes. I purposely plant a row of Koralik (cherry) and Sausalito Cocktail (also cherry) plants on the perimeter of my main garden so that they don't venture further in and get at the ones that I like.

You're probably wondering why I use these two varieties as a sacrifice...well, they both pump out a gazillion bright red fruits no matter how good or bad the weather is. Huge trusses of fruit; I'll be sure to take pics this season.

They've always tasted the same from year to year; lets just say I'm not a fan of them, unlike the peafowl.

At all.