Squirrels and birds are two animals that are considered the number 1 enemy of tomato plants. The reason is that these two animals are very fond of tomatoes and they can destroy a large area of tomatoes. In particular, squirrels are very attracted to colorful tomatoes and they can bring the whole flock to destroy your tomato plants.
Especially, if you live in an area with a lot of squirrels and birds, it is extremely important to protect tomato plants from these two animals. How to protect tomatoes from birds and squirrels? Are there any simple methods to prevent both squirrel and bird infestations? Join us in finding safe solutions to protect your tomato garden.
How To Protect Tomatoes From Birds And Squirrels?
Preventing squirrels and birds from eating tomatoes is a necessity and needs to be done early. The destructive power of these two animals is immense. In particular, they often attack tomato gardens in large numbers in groups or flocks. So, here are some measures that you can take to prevent squirrels and birds from eating tomatoes in your garden.
Use A Trellis To Protect Your Tomato Plants
One of the safest options for your tomato plants is to use pergolas, nets, cages, or mulches to prevent squirrels and birds from eating the tomatoes. This option can be 100% effective if you have a sturdy trellis and netting. However, squirrels and birds can still destroy or take advantage of the openings to eat the ripe and colorful tomatoes. So you can protect the ripe tomatoes by tying a plastic bag or hiding them from squirrels and birds.
This option will be very effective in preventing squirrels and birds from eating tomatoes. However, the installation cost for a large area is relatively high. In particular, you also need to take care of the plants more carefully because they are planted in perches and nets. Sunlight, air exchange, and the amount of water vapor evaporated from the outside and inside the canopy will be different.
Get Rid Of Things That Squirrels And Birds Love In Your Garden
Squirrels and birds are animals that regularly rummage through leftovers from your garden trash bags. They are always digging or tearing garbage bags in search of food scraps. Therefore, you need to put the garbage in the trash can and have a lid.
You should also remove the bird feeders outside the garden because they will attract free birds to eat and destroy your tomato garden. If you keep birds indoors, you need to keep the bird feeder in a cage or net to avoid attracting free-roaming birds. Clean up any food that has fallen on the ground under the bird feeder because squirrels will often visit your garden.
You also need to regularly clean your garden by removing grass, bushes, and piles of leaves because squirrels and birds love to eat nuts, berries, and fruits that fall in the garden. They are a great food source and squirrels and birds will regularly visit your garden.
Plant Mint Next To Tomato Plants
In the wild, squirrels don’t like the scent of mint, so they usually stay away from areas where this herb is present. So many gardeners take advantage of this to plant mints next to tomato plants to repel squirrels. In particular, growing mint plants under tomato plants is extremely simple and easy to care for. This natural method can help you prevent squirrels and birds from eating tomatoes in your garden. However, this method cannot guarantee 100% safety for your tomatoes.
Use Vinegar Created To Repel Squirrels And Birds
Many animals hate the smell of apple cider vinegar because it is too strong and unpleasant to smell. So many gardeners use apple cider vinegar as a natural remedy to repel squirrels and birds. Apple cider vinegar has the surprising effect of keeping squirrels away from everything. Many animals hate the smell of apple cider vinegar because it is so strong. This method will save you a great deal of money. Just buy a quart of apple cider vinegar and use a rag to soak it in the solution.
After the apple cider vinegar has soaked into the rags, you’ll place the rags in specific spots in the yard or next to the tomatoes. So every time a squirrel or bird comes near, they can’t stand the smell of apple cider vinegar and have to leave.
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Raise A Dog To Repel Squirrels And Birds
Dogs are animals that can help keep squirrels and birds away when they visit your garden. A dog’s instinct in the wild is to repel smaller animals such as squirrels, ferrets, hedgehogs, or birds. In particular, if they are trained to protect the garden from rodents, they will do very well. You can build a dog house near your garden and they can help keep rodents away.
However, this option also will not be 100% effective because your dog can move to other positions. In particular, if your dog is not trained it can damage the beds of tomatoes and other vegetables in your garden.
Predator Urine
Squirrels are afraid of the smell of urine from predators. The urine of wolves, owls, foxes, or other large predators can keep squirrels away from your garden. The reason is that squirrels have the characteristic of smelling everything around the area they come to.
The smell of urine from predators will make squirrels aware of danger so they will leave as soon as they detect the smell of urine. You can also spray urine on tomato plants or stumps to keep squirrels away. Collecting carnivore urine is not too difficult because you can search on social networks or some commercially available products.
Use Bait Of Predators
Predator bait is also how you can scare away squirrels and birds. The lures for kites and owls will also discourage squirrels and birds from visiting your garden. You can place these lures next to tomato plants so that when squirrels and birds spot them, they won’t go in that direction. The reason is that the survival instinct of squirrels and birds will stay away from the bait of predators larger than them.
This method also won’t work in the long run because squirrels and birds are very smart. Only after a period of observation will they discover this is not a danger and they will continue to eat the tomato. Therefore, you should regularly change the position of the lures to confuse squirrels and birds and stay away.
Use Squirrel Repellant
Currently, there are several drugs on the market to prevent squirrels and birds from eating the fruits and seeds in the garden. You just buy this medicine and use the sprayer to spray it all over the garden. The smell of this medicine will make squirrels and birds feel very uncomfortable and stay away from your garden. However, current insect repellents are usually short-lived. So if you use this method then you need to spray more often. Fortunately, these insect repellents are reasonably priced and not too expensive to use continuously over a long period.
Drive Away Squirrels And Birds With Electronic Devices
Using an ultrasonic squirrel and bird-repellent device is an effective method. It is a small and convenient device to put in the ground. Its job is to repel insects and prevent plant pests. These ultrasonic devices will emit sounds that humans cannot hear. However, animals such as squirrels, birds, or rabbits can hear these sounds. The reason this device is manufactured is to produce sounds at the same frequency as insects.
The ultrasonic device will emit the sounds of predators or sounds that the ears of squirrels and birds will not be able to withstand, causing them to walk away. This device can bring relatively high efficiency and safety to users. These ultrasonic devices will operate on energy from the sun. They will work continuously if there is sunlight from the sun.
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Use The Radio Or Loudspeaker
Squirrels and birds are animals with very good hearing. Just the slightest sound makes them alert and retreat. So squirrels and birds don’t like noise at all and they always try to listen to any surrounding sounds. You can use the radio or loudspeaker to make loud sounds. So squirrels and birds will be alert and stay away from these sounding areas.
Put a radio next to the tomato plants and turn up the volume. Therefore, squirrels and birds will not dare to come near to eat the tomato. However, if you live in an area with small spaces, be careful as this method can disturb the surrounding neighbors.
Automatic Sprinkler Head When There Is Movement
You can use motion-sensitive sprinklers to scare away squirrels and birds. This nozzle system will work on the principle of motion. Whenever it detects movement around, the faucet will turn on automatically. So squirrels and birds will surprise and run away from that area. However, you should also be careful when using motion-sensitive sprinklers because your tomato plants can be over-watered leading to waterlogging. Create a drainage system around the tomato beds and avoid waterlogging.
Final Thoughts
There are different ways to help keep squirrels and birds away from eating tomatoes. You can use pergolas or greenhouses to protect tomato plants from attack by squirrels and birds. In addition, you also need to remove leftovers, nuts, and ripe berries in the garden to limit the appearance of squirrels and birds.
Use sound-producing devices such as ultrasonic devices, radios, and loudspeakers to make loud sounds and scare animals. You can also use insect repellents and spray them on tomato plants. Motion-sensitive faucets are also a great idea to discourage squirrel and bird infestations. However, these methods all have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, you need to choose and apply these measures alternately to bring the best effect.