Then, about the first of July, the local squirrel family discovered the tomato vines. Mostly very young critters. I enclosed the top of the raised beds with more netting and took executive action on four or five trespassers...
We do our “gardening” off the back of our ground floor condo in a couple 5 gallon buckets and a very nice 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden.
Always had problems with the biters chewing on our veggies/fruit. Tried quite a number of home remedies but it looks like our water spray bottle mix of plain water with some bottled Mint or Peppermint Extract (Walmart in 2 oz bottles) appears to work. (Just a splash into the water, not the full bottle).
We do a light spray in the morning and then in the evening. This is the first year we have had absolutely no bites. (And we can see the Fruit Rats running around at dark).
So based on this amazing discovery (?), the theory is that the smell of the Mint is something that either doesn’t register with the critters as friendly food, or it is disgusting to them and they stay away.
This has worked with planted Sunflower seeds and seedlings too.
We wonder if other “smelly” flavors might also do the trick.
We are growing Dill for our Swallowtail Butterflies here and it emits quite the odor when crushed. So, as a cheaper/home-grown anti-rat spray mix, we are going to try Dill in the blender, filtered for the clear liquid.
We will report in…