What's Eating Our Tomatoes?`

[Bird]

Sure wish I had 60 degrees right now instead of the 93 that I do have. We had a low of 75 and I mowed the yard this morning. By the time I finished in the yard, about 10:30 a.m., my clothes were thoroughly wet with sweat.

 

[The Dougster]

I'm guessing that bats are not the problem.... I'd put my money on the birds.. Lil devils!

Speaking of bats, I plan on building and mounting several bat houses... I'm convinced they do far more good than harm...

 

[Bird]

Today, I removed 3 more partially eaten pink tomatoes, so then went 3 places before finding a roll of The Master Gardner Company's Bird Stop protective mesh at Calloway's Nursery. I got the last roll they had. They said they're selling it as fast as they can get it.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Bird,

Have you considered adding more plants so there's enough tomatoes to go around for all?

Who said growing tomatoes was easy?

Don

 

[Bird]

Bird,

Have you considered adding more plants so there's enough tomatoes to go around for all?

Who said growing tomatoes was easy?

Don

Don, when we lived down in the country, that's exactly what I did. I never knew of the birds to eat tomatoes, although they sure got after the pecans and plums. One year I set out a dozen each of 4 different varieties of tomato and we gave tomatoes to anyone who would take them. I weighed some and was trying to keep count of about how many had been picked and by the time 1,500 lbs. had been picked, we were tired of them and mowed them down. However, here in town, we just have a couple of big flower pots with tomato plants and figured that would be enough just for us, but I told my wife if we save any of these from the birds, they'll be the most expensive tomatoes we ever ate.

 

[6thgpSF]

Bird, I stand corrected and guess I gotta eat crow,I didn't know fruit bats were in the good ole U.S.A. , russ

 

[jinman]

Bird, I just saw this post and it sure seems to me that the netting is your solution. I put up netting around tomato plants I put in a back yard flowerbed when I lived in town. One day a squirrel got inside and couldn't get out. My neighbor said he watched that squirrel going "nuts" for over an hour before he found his way out of the netting. . .cheap entertainment.

I have nine tomato plants I planted the last part of April. They are just now producing large green tomatoes. I hope to have Early Girls before the end of the month. My grape tomatoes are already a foot abouve my 4-foot cages and have produced a handfull of tomatoes. I also have five more plants that are only about 1-1/2 feet tall. We planted those for "later" tomatoes. However, my bet is they will all produce and continue until first frost.

We planted one of the 444 variety to see how it turns out. So far, it is doing very well with a half-dozen large green tomatoes and others in various stages of smaller growth. Our cherry tomatoes are also covered in nickel to quarter sized tomatoes. So far we have had zero damage from any animal. As a matter of fact, two years ago we had almost two dozen plants and I don't remember any tomatoes ever being damaged by anything but a few insect bites. The only real problem we have had with any animal is raccoons getting our corn and cantaloupes. Even insects are very controllable. It's funny (not to you I'm sure) that you have problems in the city and we have very few here. Maybe it's that city birds don't have the variety of foods as country birds just like you suggested with having them eat your fruit in your former country place.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Jim, weird things happen. Down in Navarro County, I always had at least 2 to 4 dozen tomato plants of two or three varieties. We had some insect damage, but had so many tomatoes that we didn't care if the bugs ate a few. If birds ate any (and they may have), I never knew it. I wasn't going to bother with tomatoes here in town, but Margaret wanted some tomatoes with flavor and she had two big unused flower pots, so on April 1, I bought a big bag of Miracle Gro Potting Soil and four Big Boy tomato plants. The little sign stuck in with the plants said we should have tomatoes in 78 days. We definitely would have if something hadn't been eating them. We've had no tomatoes to eat ourselves so far, but apparently the mockingbirds have enjoyed at least a dozen nice tomatoes.

We have a squirrel here regularly in the live oak tree, or on the ground under the bird feeder in that tree, but that's on the other side of the house. So I'm reasonably confident the squirrel hasn't bothered anything but the bird feeder.

 

[LBrown59]

Maybe it'd be easier to just go to the market and buy a couple tomatoes???

But not as tasty.

 

[wushaw]

Bird; I feel your pain...one of my plum trees had @ 40 plums on it last week almost ready, I ate three of 5 that were left yesterday, They were just gone, I figure a coon has been waiting just like me and decided they were good enough for him/her