Suggestions on ways to protect tomatoes

[beavis]

Hello all,

I am probably less than a month from having tomatoes ripening and I am looking into ways to protect them from both House sparrows and my three Peking ducks that roam my garden.

My tomatoes are in cages like this.....

I guess I could get bird netting to go over the top and sides, but after the season is over, wondering about the netting becoming a total jumbled mess when storing them.

Maybe chicken wire or something?

Thoughts?

 

[Southern Gardener]

I was going to suggest the netting - but you're right about the big jumbled mess - I have a ball of it sitting in my shed.

 

[lesa]

I am sure your ducks love tomatoes. Have you ever seen a wild bird eat one?? Never had birds damage mine... Since you have them so nicely caged, what about just a little garden fence around your raised bed. Would the ducks fly in?

 

[Wildsky]

I have a hardware cloth fence around my raised beds, I have to keep chickens, guinea's and ducks out of them!

 

[wifezilla]

lesa, my ducks ignored my tomatoes for weeks. Then one day they got adventurous and I had stubs.

 

[ecopepper]

What about that black weed preventer cloth? Or is that hardwear cloth? Just around the sides?

 

[jab91864]

My runner ducks adored tomatoes, every part of the plant in fact. They would jump in the air to pluck at the ripe tomatoes.

I used some orange snow fencing (not the plastic kind but a meshed netting which is quite sturdy) to surround my garden area. It was sturdier than the bird netting and the holes were small enough they couldn't get their bills thru the holes. I bought it on ebay and have re-used it for a few years now.

Now the chickens were still able to fly over it and enjoy the fruits of my labor but it kept all but the bravest souls out....lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

I used the bird netting last year after birds had started eating the tomatoes. I don't mind losing a few to them but it got serious. I agree it is a one year deal. It worked pretty well at slowing them down, but eventually the tomatoes grew through the netting and started producing tomatoes outside the netting. By that time the birds did not bother them much, but I was unable to remove any of the netting in any kind of reusable form. I found it hard to work with anyway. It snags on any little thing when you are trying to install it and it is so hard to see that you have trouble seeing what you are doing. Once the tomato plants start growing through it, it can be a bit of a problem getting to some tomatoes to pick them without tearing the tips of the plants and small developing tomatoes off, but that was not as bad as I thought it would be. What I found was a piece 17 feet wide and 50 feet long at Home Depot. It did make a pretty effective barrier once it was installed.

I am not familiar with Peking ducks. The only thing I can think about is a fence to keep them out. I don't know how tall it would have to be, but the materials would not have to be all that expensive. I'd think plastic fencing and cheap posts would work with wind being your biggest enemy.

I can't even imagine a way to keep small birds out that I would want to try without using that netting. I'm envisioning a fence tall enough for you to work under and far enough back from the edges so you can get in there to pick the tomatoes, and some kind of gate for access. And of course a frame over the top covered with small mesh netting or fencing. I'll keep checking on your thread to see if anybody has better ideas because I may be in the market for some creative thinking if the birds are as bad this year as last.

 

[beavis]

I think I have decided to fence IN the ducks away from the garden.

And to try out that shiny bird scare tape on the tomatoes.

The little birds aren't as big as problem as the quacking, waddling ones.

 

[digitS']

Quail like my ripe tomatoes but seem to leave anything that isn't dead ripe, alone.

I guess I can be thankful never to have seen pheasants in the tomato patch.

A family of pheasants decided to use my little salad garden as a foraging/dust bath site, one year. Wow! They were hard on the lettuce!

Steve