social

Protecting Tomato Plants from Animals

A tomato plant with yellow flowers.
We are not the only ones who enjoy a delicious tomato. Deer and even squirrels will help themselves to your garden produce. Depending on who is nibbling, there are different measures you can take to discourage your unwelcome dinner guests. This is a page about protecting tomato plants from animals.
Advertisement


Bronze Request Medal for All Time! 55 Requests
July 10, 2010

A tomato plant with yellow flowers.We had a lot of tomatoes, but they got eaten by some animal. My question is if I plant tomatoes now will they still have fruit on them? How do I protect my plants from being eaten? How high of a fence should I have and what should I use?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

By Linda Delcamp from Brighton, MI

Answers

July 11, 20100 found this helpful

I don't know if it will work, but we actually bought one of those hanging tomato planters and put the plant in there.. the tomatoes are just ripening now and are beautiful and because it hangs, no animals can get at it.

Advertisement

I am amazed as i was skeptical that it would really work, but it has!

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
July 11, 20100 found this helpful

Our big animal problem is squirrels. They love to pull nearly ripe tomatoes and take one bite. One squirrel even tosses the rest of the tomato at us if we are on the patio. I'd love an answer to this problem. Cayenne pepper helps until the rains come. So far our hanging planter has not produced even one flower, much less a tomato. So disappointed but think the corner is too shady.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Anonymous
July 11, 20100 found this helpful

Most pests don't eat tomatoes until they are red. I once read in a gardening book that tomato plants only ripen a tomato about 50%, at which point the plant stops ripening it and it finishes ripening on its own. So I started picking tomatoes when they are orange and let them ripen off the vine. By doing this, I got lots more tomatoes, they tasted the same as if they had been ripened on the vine, and most of them didn't have any garden varmint nibbles on them.

Advertisement

Contrary to popular belief, tomatoes seem to ripen best in the dark. I place the orange tomatoes in a paper bag and check them every day.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
July 14, 20100 found this helpful

The deer ate our tomatoes until I started spraying a deer repellent around the garden area. It kept the rabbits out, too. Also, be on the look out for the tomato hornworm. They will eat the plant from top to bottom. They are green and blend in with the stems so you really have to look hard to see them. They are pretty big though, bigger than a catepillar. They also lay their eggs on the leaves so remove anything that looks like a bunch of eggs on a leaf.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Answer this Question

July 26, 2014

This is a page about protecting tomatoes from birds. Eventually most gardeners become tired of sharing their tomatoes with the local bird population.

Protecting Tomatoes

Read More... Pin it! Was this helpful? 3

August 8, 2016

This is a page about animals eating my tomato plants. To stop the garden feasting, you will first want to identify the culprit.

Chicken in tomato plants

Read More... Pin it! Was this helpful? Yes
In These Pages
Categories
Home and Garden Gardening Pest ControlMarch 23, 2018
Pages
More
👔
Father's Day Ideas!
🌻
Gardening
🎆
Fourth of July Ideas!
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Contests!
Newsletters
Ask a Question
Share a Post
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2023-05-22 18:34:44 in 3 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2023 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Protecting-Tomato-Plants-from-Animals-1.html