Farming sucks. I haven’t had one tomato yet but the rats are fat
Farming sucks. I haven’t had one tomato yet but the rats are fat
by thetimguy
21 Comments
AdPale1230
Farming and gardening aren’t quite the same thing.
CitrusBelt
Yeah, they’re a bitch to deal with.
Rats are my number one enemy in the tomato patch, with spider mites being a close second, and basically every other pest is no trouble at all in comparison (Hornworm, tomato fruitworm/corn earworm? Rarely even worth dealing with, but even when they are….easy enough).
They’re especially difficult to deal with once they’ve already developed a taste for tomatoes; at least for me, they’ll largely ignore almost all baits at that point & you have to get creative (plus put out a *lot* of traps).
Zebilmnc
Time to get some farm cats
rickg
I’m building a cage for my bed this week. Something like you see at the beginning of this video [https://youtu.be/FqVwOcdDUSM](https://youtu.be/FqVwOcdDUSM) (start at about 45 seconds in)
spottedsushi
Sometimes animals will eat produce to essentially get to the water in it. Providing water bowls might help
Outdoor_Releaf
I had this problem with chipmunks who could easily get around my fence. What’s more — they could not tell a ripe tomato from a non-ripe one without biting into it. That was one bite in each green tomato in my garden. Had to trap them.
TheDonkeyBomber
Had that problem with squirrels. They’d pick them and bring them up on the porch so I could see them half eaten on the rail. Solution after trial and error is building cages from concrete reinforcement mesh, then wrap those in plastic deer netting to about 4-5 feet. Then, for the bugs (fuck Kansas sometimes), I bag each fruit or cluster of fruits with mesh bags from Amazon. Nothing but spotless tomatoes and peppers ever since.
arrapa
How can you tell it’s a rat and not another rodent or critter?
I have an outside (only during the day) cat who definitely preys on rabbits and rodents that come into the yard, plus there are a few strays that come around at night in the area.
I also make a stinky mix of garlic, cayenne pepper, milk, and sometimes a few drops of soap that I sprinkle on anything I don’t want to be eaten prematurely, and it seems to be a decent deterrent.
hefty_ballsagne
Have you tried the sonic deterrents? Im ordering a 6 pack that comes tomorrow and I’m going to try for the mice/rats we have where I am. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C52Z94TC](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C52Z94TC)
For smaller pests, I use Dr. Earth Final Stop. Its like garlic and other essential oils. Smells ok and I notice far less bites on my leaves. I treat once a week.
Regen-Gardener
try the “Animal Stopper”/Rodent Stopper spray
No_Bottle_8910
I just get gophers that will pull entire plants down into their holes to eat.
Several_Fee_9534
I start my rat termination process as soon as my plants go into the ground. I start with traps (over 20 rats this year), and then I maintain with poison throughout the summer. It seems to work, but you’ll never get all of them. Good luck.
Illustrious_Dust_0
Ah they didn’t even eat the whole fruit! They took bites out of each one and ruined them! Jerks
Hanuman_Jr
It has a little learning curve and some of that is specific to your locale. Don’t expect to harvest a lot your first year. Just get it more together as you go.
squirrellywolf
Pick them the second they hit breaker phase and set them on the counter inside or in a boy.
JoeyBE98
I have read many say that once the breaker stage happens, the tomato doesn’t really get anything else from the plant. Letting them fully ripen on the plant means you’re way more likely to have pests interested. I pick mine as soon as they are blushed. I’ve read many here say they did a side by side taste test after letting them fully ripen on the vine for yrs and there was no difference. Works for me
Naphillz
How rude, the least they could do is finish one of these beauties! What variety are they?
HoldComprehensive808
Cats, get lots and lots of cats!
Ok-Bullfrog-6029
That’s awful, I saw a groundhog running around the tree line today, way too close to my plants 💀I was thinking about breaking out some jump scare Halloween decorations a little early this year 🤔
McRatHattibagen
I deal with mainly raccoons and deer. I invested in an electric fence this year because they tear through my strawberries at the beginning of the year and then corn and sometimes munch on squash.
“You win some, you lose some. But you live, you live to fight another day” – Mr. Jones in the Movie: Friday
OkPaleontologist8475
Get you a pellet gun and bury the rats in the garden. Free fertilizer.
21 Comments
Farming and gardening aren’t quite the same thing.
Yeah, they’re a bitch to deal with.
Rats are my number one enemy in the tomato patch, with spider mites being a close second, and basically every other pest is no trouble at all in comparison (Hornworm, tomato fruitworm/corn earworm? Rarely even worth dealing with, but even when they are….easy enough).
They’re especially difficult to deal with once they’ve already developed a taste for tomatoes; at least for me, they’ll largely ignore almost all baits at that point & you have to get creative (plus put out a *lot* of traps).
Time to get some farm cats
I’m building a cage for my bed this week. Something like you see at the beginning of this video [https://youtu.be/FqVwOcdDUSM](https://youtu.be/FqVwOcdDUSM) (start at about 45 seconds in)
Sometimes animals will eat produce to essentially get to the water in it. Providing water bowls might help
I had this problem with chipmunks who could easily get around my fence. What’s more — they could not tell a ripe tomato from a non-ripe one without biting into it. That was one bite in each green tomato in my garden. Had to trap them.
Had that problem with squirrels. They’d pick them and bring them up on the porch so I could see them half eaten on the rail. Solution after trial and error is building cages from concrete reinforcement mesh, then wrap those in plastic deer netting to about 4-5 feet. Then, for the bugs (fuck Kansas sometimes), I bag each fruit or cluster of fruits with mesh bags from Amazon. Nothing but spotless tomatoes and peppers ever since.
How can you tell it’s a rat and not another rodent or critter?
I have an outside (only during the day) cat who definitely preys on rabbits and rodents that come into the yard, plus there are a few strays that come around at night in the area.
I also make a stinky mix of garlic, cayenne pepper, milk, and sometimes a few drops of soap that I sprinkle on anything I don’t want to be eaten prematurely, and it seems to be a decent deterrent.
Have you tried the sonic deterrents? Im ordering a 6 pack that comes tomorrow and I’m going to try for the mice/rats we have where I am. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C52Z94TC](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C52Z94TC)
For smaller pests, I use Dr. Earth Final Stop. Its like garlic and other essential oils. Smells ok and I notice far less bites on my leaves. I treat once a week.
try the “Animal Stopper”/Rodent Stopper spray
I just get gophers that will pull entire plants down into their holes to eat.
I start my rat termination process as soon as my plants go into the ground. I start with traps (over 20 rats this year), and then I maintain with poison throughout the summer. It seems to work, but you’ll never get all of them. Good luck.
Ah they didn’t even eat the whole fruit! They took bites out of each one and ruined them! Jerks
It has a little learning curve and some of that is specific to your locale. Don’t expect to harvest a lot your first year. Just get it more together as you go.
Pick them the second they hit breaker phase and set them on the counter inside or in a boy.
I have read many say that once the breaker stage happens, the tomato doesn’t really get anything else from the plant. Letting them fully ripen on the plant means you’re way more likely to have pests interested. I pick mine as soon as they are blushed. I’ve read many here say they did a side by side taste test after letting them fully ripen on the vine for yrs and there was no difference. Works for me
How rude, the least they could do is finish one of these beauties! What variety are they?
Cats, get lots and lots of cats!
That’s awful, I saw a groundhog running around the tree line today, way too close to my plants 💀I was thinking about breaking out some jump scare Halloween decorations a little early this year 🤔
I deal with mainly raccoons and deer. I invested in an electric fence this year because they tear through my strawberries at the beginning of the year and then corn and sometimes munch on squash.
“You win some, you lose some. But you live, you live to fight another day”
– Mr. Jones in the Movie: Friday
Get you a pellet gun and bury the rats in the garden. Free fertilizer.