Results 1 to 29 of 29

Thread: What keeps eating my tomatoes??

  1. #1

    What keeps eating my tomatoes??

    I have a decent sized outdoor garden and recently something has been eating my biggest tomatoes right off the plants. Whatever it is has a hell of an appetite. It's eaten the bottom half of two nearly full grown Mr. Stripeys, one full grown Pink Brandywine, one full grown Beefsteak and two full grown Goliaths! It only eats my biggest tomatoes and leaves everything else alone?! All over the last 3 days no less. It only eats the bottom half of the fruits so whatever it is seems to be working from the ground. The fruit itself looks kinda "shredded" at the feeding spot. I already have a rabbit fence surrounding the garden. A couple of times I saw something out of the corner of my eye run from under the fence into nearby brush but that was small, fast and dark colored. Didn't look big enough to do this much damage but who knows. Anybody know what may be doing this and solutions? At this rate I wont have anything left after this freeloader takes its toll. Help!
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book



  2. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  3. #2
    could you take pictures of it? that would help me identify whatever pest it might be..
    The ultimate minority is the individual. Protect the individual from Democracy and you will protect all groups of individuals
    Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. - Thomas Jefferson
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

    - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Kotin View Post
    could you take pictures of it? that would help me identify whatever pest it might be..
    A picture of the pest? LOL if I could do that I wouldnt need help

    The small brown critter Ive only seen twice for about a split second out of the corner of my eye. He's a fast SOB. But Im not sure that's whats doing the damage. Probably a rodent of some sort. Guess Ill hit the Home Depot and see kind of goodies they have to rid me of the unwanted guest.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  5. #4
    Rats and squirrels will eat tomatoes. I had rats eating my tomatoes and jalepenos one year. Rat trap did the trick.

    It could also be worms/caterpillars eating your tomatoes. Any small dark droppings?

  6. #5
    frustrating isnt it...
    I had the same thing going on with a combination of squirrels, racoons, rabbits and a few mice / rats.

    Crafty little $#@!s too.
    (I dont want to kill the squirrels or rabbits because I may want (read=need) to eat THEM one day)

    I finally gave in and planted some sacrificial plants for them to eat and made them easily accessible while my food was a bit harder to get to.

    So far so good.
    I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
    -Churchill
    ************************************

    Wake up in the morning with No Agenda
    http://www.noagendashow.com

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty View Post
    Rats and squirrels will eat tomatoes. I had rats eating my tomatoes and jalepenos one year. Rat trap did the trick.

    It could also be worms/caterpillars eating your tomatoes. Any small dark droppings?
    It's not worms eating the bottom half of tomatoes like he described. Rat or squirell, a rabbit would probably do it too.
    "The journalist is one who separates the wheat from the chaff, and then prints the chaff." - Adlai Stevenson

    “I tell you that virtue does not come from money: but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man, both to the individual and to the state.” - Socrates

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    A picture of the pest? LOL if I could do that I wouldnt need help

    The small brown critter Ive only seen twice for about a split second out of the corner of my eye. He's a fast SOB. But Im not sure that's whats doing the damage. Probably a rodent of some sort. Guess Ill hit the Home Depot and see kind of goodies they have to rid me of the unwanted guest.
    I meant the damage..
    The ultimate minority is the individual. Protect the individual from Democracy and you will protect all groups of individuals
    Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. - Thomas Jefferson
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

    - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty View Post
    Rats and squirrels will eat tomatoes. I had rats eating my tomatoes and jalepenos one year. Rat trap did the trick.

    It could also be worms/caterpillars eating your tomatoes. Any small dark droppings?
    Im leaning toward it being a rat. My garden is near a lot of thick brush and a stream which sounds like good rat habitat. That would also fit the description of what I saw out of the corner of my eye hauling ass out of the garden, plus the shredded appearance of the tomatoes. I picked up some rodent repellent pellets to spread thru the garden and some old fashioned mouse traps. We'll see how it goes. Thx for the thoughts all.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book



  10. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    Im leaning toward it being a rat. My garden is near a lot of thick brush and a stream which sounds like good rat habitat. That would also fit the description of what I saw out of the corner of my eye hauling ass out of the garden, plus the shredded appearance of the tomatoes. I picked up some rodent repellent pellets to spread thru the garden and some old fashioned mouse traps. We'll see how it goes. Thx for the thoughts all.
    You need a predator of your own, Cats or a Rat dog.

    Ginger was a great little rat killer. May she RIP.
    http://pcosmar.blogspot.com/2008/05/sad-news.html
    Last edited by pcosmar; 07-19-2009 at 05:55 PM.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  12. #10
    I keep hoses laying in my garden for watering and keeping the rabbits and rats out because they see them and think they look like snakes....and old farmer taught me that one.

  13. #11
    I doubt you have deer but they will eat a tomato patch down and the tomatos.
    War; everything in the world wrong, evil and immoral combined into one and multiplied by millions.

  14. #12
    I'm sorry...I was hungry and your tomatoes looked so tasty.
    Definition of political insanity: Voting for the same people expecting different results.

  15. #13
    It's probably a ground-hog. It really doesn't matter what it is. The solution is the same. Bust it in it's head with a .22.
    "If freedom is what we want, it is ours for the taking. Let the revolution begin." - Ron Paul The Revolution: A Manifesto

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Time for Change View Post
    I finally gave in and planted some sacrificial plants for them to eat and made them easily accessible while my food was a bit harder to get to.

    So far so good.
    There are also plants that keep certain pests out. You'll have to do some research on that--about all I can remember is marigolds repel some kind of insect, not much help. But whether they mask the good smell or are just repulsive, if they work they work. For instance, a row of poison ivy might keep Elwar out of your garden...

    So, if you figure out what the pests are, check it out.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Elwar View Post
    I'm sorry...I was hungry and your tomatoes looked so tasty.
    It's ok. I do grow a mean tomato plant. They are hard to resist.

    So after spreading the pellets the critter is back and decided to harvest another Brandywine for me. My biggest damn tomato no less. While the .22 suggestion is tempting, I live in a large city and I doubt my neighbors would be thrilled if I decided to give my AR a backyard workout on some rodents.

    So the next step, today I harvested some ripe Habanero peppers, boiled them (note to self: get out of kitchen while boiling next time!), threw the broth in a blender to puree' and strained the juice into a spray bottle. A dash of Tea Tree Oil was added for bug repellent then sprayed liberally through the garden. My gardening "partner" is adamantly against killing the rat (vegan )so I gotta try all this holistic crap before I just sneak a few snap traps in there to kill it while she's not looking.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Working Poor View Post
    I keep hoses laying in my garden for watering and keeping the rabbits and rats out because they see them and think they look like snakes....and old farmer taught me that one.
    Never heard of that one, worth a try and gives me an excuse to not put my hose away neatly.



  19. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  20. #17
    Ground squirrels.

    In our area we have the 13-lined ground squirrel. They love to get at the tomatoes.

    "I'm not just trying to win or get elected. I am trying to change the course of history" - Ron Paul

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by acptulsa View Post
    There are also plants that keep certain pests out. You'll have to do some research on that--about all I can remember is marigolds repel some kind of insect, not much help. But whether they mask the good smell or are just repulsive, if they work they work.
    The theory on marigolds is that they are preferred by white-flies over your tomatoes and peppers. They like yellow/orange. Related to that is putting up big yellow/orange sticky traps like flypaper around your garden. White flies don't eat your tomatoes, but they do kill or severely stunt your plants.

    I want to put an electric fence around the garden. Might keep out many animals, including cats who think it's a big litter box, and dogs that dig and trample.

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    My gardening "partner" is adamantly against killing the rat (vegan )so I gotta try all this holistic crap before I just sneak a few snap traps in there to kill it while she's not looking.
    Lol! Mine is not vegan, but she freaks on killing anything. Luckily she draws the line when the little bastards are eating our food.

  23. #20
    It's a groundhog, I'd bet 20 dollars on it.
    Did you look around for a burrow?
    "Molon Labe"

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by catdd View Post
    It's a groundhog, I'd bet 20 dollars on it.
    Did you look around for a burrow?
    Im pretty sure it's not a groundhog but Ill look closer for a burrow inside the rabbit fence. I do need to do some weeding so I may have missed it. Whatever it is is actually climbing on the plant itself (I can see the claw marks) to get to the lower tomatoes so it can't be all that big. Groundhogs are pretty large aren't they?
    Last edited by devil21; 07-20-2009 at 11:03 PM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    Im pretty sure it's not a groundhog but Ill look closer for a burrow inside the rabbit fence. I do need to do some weeding so I may have missed it. Whatever it is is actually climbing on the plant itself (I can see the claw marks) to get to the lower tomatoes so I can't be all that big. Groundhogs are pretty large aren't they?
    Groundsquirrels are small and light, can climb and love to eat tomatoes. They eat mine and my neighbor's.

    See my previous post for the little rascal that's probably eating the fruits of your labor.
    "I'm not just trying to win or get elected. I am trying to change the course of history" - Ron Paul

  26. #23
    Yeah, they are pretty big. I had one in my garden once and one groundhog can really do some damage. I also found out they have incredible eyesight and it's very hard to get a shot at them.
    Take some flour and spread a good coat around the bottom of the plants they are eating so you can see the paw print. That will tell you what it is.
    Last edited by catdd; 07-21-2009 at 06:41 AM.
    "Molon Labe"

  27. #24
    I found no garden damage today but it occurred to me that the bastard has already eaten the lowest hanging tomatoes so he probably can't reach anything anymore without doing some serious acrobatics. Ill keep looking but I think his free lunch has run out.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book



  28. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by acptulsa View Post
    There are also plants that keep certain pests out. You'll have to do some research on that--about all I can remember is marigolds repel some kind of insect, not much help. But whether they mask the good smell or are just repulsive, if they work they work. For instance, a row of poison ivy might keep Elwar out of your garden...

    So, if you figure out what the pests are, check it out.
    That poison ivy line made me bust out laughing. Unexpected. Thanks!

  30. #26
    This is the first year I've ever grown anything, and my tomatoes are doing great. We live in an area that has alot of wild life(ducks, groundhogs, moles, rabbits, you name it) so I put a line of marigolds all the way around my tomato box.

    Have not had one animal in there yet. Have had the birds get a few tomatoes but I put up a few pie pans and fixed that.

    Maybe putting up an owl (plastic, you can get them at any farm store) on a pole would help?

  31. #27

  32. #28
    I caught a rat in there. My vegan gardening partner was busy buying herself a house (in this economy? yeah, I warned her...) so I laid out a few snap traps baited with peanut butter. Im not sure exactly what happened overnight but the carnage I found yesterday in the garden was pretty "interesting". I found one half of the rat (tail half) near a triggered trap but couldn't find the other half of the rat and I can't find one of the traps?!? Then I found a few pieces that appear to be rat innards strewn around the general vicinity. A completely and perfectly sheared little stomach even....yeah gross. Not sure what went down in my garden overnight exactly but there's definitely a dead rat that was inside my fence. Seems theres more to the story but I guess Ill never know. I think the rat hit a trap overnight, died, then the morning birds had their way with it and carried half of it off, probably with the trap still attached. That's the only thing that makes any sense. Well that or I have a chupacabra in my garden
    Last edited by devil21; 07-24-2009 at 12:42 AM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  33. #29
    It's always good to fasten the snap-traps down to something so they can't run off with the trap; esp. a good idea if you're setting the traps in your house. You don't want a rat crawling off and dying anywhere in your house like a inside a wall. This is one reason I've never used poison when I've had a problem with mice/rats.
    .
    Reality is independent of Popularity.



Similar Threads

  1. Eating beef more evil than eating dog meat.......
    By amanbakal74 in forum Peace Through Religion
    Replies: 45
    Last Post: 07-19-2017, 06:08 AM
  2. Eating beef more evil than eating dog meat.......
    By amanbakal74 in forum U.S. Political News
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 10-21-2014, 08:12 PM
  3. Hydroponic Tomatoes in CT in May
    By Schifference in forum Freedom Living
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 08-24-2013, 08:12 PM
  4. GMO tomatoes with THC
    By Working Poor in forum Personal Health & Well-Being
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 08-01-2009, 08:10 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •