Silly Pesky Racoon Dug Up almost Every Transplant

[greenthumbomaha]

I planted my tomatoes in stages. Last week I posted that forgot to bring granular fertilizer with me and next time I ran out of Tomato Tone. I was finally finished planting all my tomatoes but I used All Purpose Alaska Fish Fertilizer. Waaaah!

Something dug up three of my tomato plants and a bunch of peppers. I tucked what was semi viable back in with a handful of Miracle Grow potting mix that I had on hand. When I went back to water the next day BAM - all the tomatoes with the Alaska fertilizer were ripped out. They looked really bad. I tucked them back in their spots, watered heavily and went to town to get hex netting for around the tomato cages. I used one 2 ft and one 3 ft roll and need much more. The plants without the Alaska fertilizer were skipper over.

After reading a few threads and getting advice from other local diners at McDonalds that had racoon problems with chicken coops, I think I need to go back again with a poultry net roof for the cages. I saw an unusual number of roadkill racoons on the way home.

Will all this netting be in vein? Should I hex net up to the top of each cage and roof? Will I ever get to eat a fruit? Will the Alaska granular stuff stop sending out a dinner bell?

- Lisa

[brownrexx]

I decided to side dress with some blood meal this year and the skunk is digging holes near my plants which are inside of cages. Luckily it must not fit inside of the cages because there are several holes dug around the perimeter of the cages but the plants are fine.

I wonder if your problem is being caused by a skunk rather than a raccoon.

[greenthumbomaha]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I decided to side dress with some blood meal this year and the skunk is digging holes near my plants which are inside of cages. Luckily it must not fit inside of the cages because there are several holes dug around the perimeter of the cages but the plants are fine.

I wonder if your problem is being caused by a skunk rather than a raccoon.

Did you see the skunk or paw print? I don't know what mine is. I read blood meal deters racoons and it is suggested that you place it around corn beds. Seems it would attract varments not detract them.

I have the Gurneys square cage and the rusty concrete mesh type. NO trouble entering either one. The plants were dug out and left close to the hole but not eaten.


- Lisa

[bower]

I've been too worried about the animal action to use fish emulsion in the garden... now more so! Even burying fish is not as bad if you're really careful, but anything poured on top.....

"Silly pesky"... if that's not the best euphemism yet I'll eat my sillypesky hat.

[Worth1]

Stuff smells like a fish market for coons.

Worth

[bower]

Exactly, it's like posting a sign that says "Dig here! Fish in here somewhere! Dig deeper!"

[greenthumbomaha]

I've also been applying Espoma Kelp when planting, but I"m not sure if I combined it with the granular Alaska. That smells even worse when the bag is open. I don't smell either one after covering with soil.

How long will this attract critters?

.

[brownrexx]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Did you see the skunk or paw print?

- Lisa

I didn't see any paw prints but skunks typically dig small round holes 3 - 4 inches deep and fairly round. They are usually digging for grubs and I find these holes in my lawn or in the mulch around my trees.

They are not trying to dig up tomato plants per se but if the fertilizer is close to the plant then they will be dug up as the animal digs where the smell is located.

If you are seeing small round holes then it is probably a skunk. If it looks more irregular, like it is ripped up by paws then it is probably a raccoon. They do not make the round holes. They rip and tear.

Both animals are nocturnal and eat grubs, worms and bugs and are attracted by fertilizer smells.

[gdaddybill]

In the South you can add armadillos to the pest list!

[Labradors2]

Ugh! How awful! As others have said, that fish smell attracts critters!

I had my melons dug up one year shortly after planting them. I added my own aged compost to the planting hole which shouldn't have had a smell, but something was curious enough to exhume all the plants! I suspected raccoons (esp. since they returned to gorge on the melons later in the season), but it could possibly have been a chippie, or even one of my own (nosy) dogs.

I would hope that the netting would deter raccoons from attacking your plants, although I have read that raccoons can actually rip poultry netting when it is used to contain chickens

Linda

[gothicgardens]

Planted several tomatoes yesterday and used TomatoTone in the holes. This morning found three of them dug up by raccoons. They were planted left his tracks on the ground cover. Definately a masked bandit.

[SteveP]

Fortunately I haven't had any critter cause problems in my raised bed the 3 years I have been using liquid fish fert. My main pests are the squirrels when the fruit starts ripening. Might set out some water for them when it starts to get hot and dry and hopefully leave my garden alone. When I catch one in the garden I grab the pellet gun.

[MuddyToes]

I am in the midst of a war with A groundhog family. I have tried scaring it away with a pellet gun and letting my dog chase it into the woods. I watered the tomatoes with fish/kelp a month ago. I wonder if that's why it ventured into my garden.

It ate all my peas that were so close to harvest. I had sugar snaps, golden sweet snow peas, and Oregon Sugar Pod II. All gone now. I got maybe 6 pea pods. I just replanted today but it's probably too late here for more peas unless we have an unusually cool summer. It also mowed down two beds of lettuce while I went away for a few days to visit my mother.

I was blaming the squirrels until I caught it red-handed munching on my peas.

Today, I sprayed my crops with a mixture of Neem oil, garlic and ghost pepper "tea", and a couple drops of eucalyptus oil for added aroma. Hopefully this concoction will repel the groundhogs, squirrels, and flea beetles.

Take that, you wicked varmits

[greenthumbomaha]

This is my first year having plants dug up, and the damage was selective, so I am attributing it to the particular fishy granular fertilizer that I used. The intruder dug all the peppers I had replanted last night.

Now gothicgardens just started having the same situation with TomatoTone.

I'm drawing a blank as to what fertilizer I can use going forward besides Miracle Grow soluble.

- Lisa

[Worth1]

Speaking of raccoons the guy I work with likes animals.
He saw a cat and went here kiitty kitty so he could pet it.
The cat came up to him and it was a raccoon.
He didn't pet it and it gave him a dirty look and now every time the raccoon sees him it glares at him.
The guy thinks it is mad because he didn't pet it.
Worth