I am in the process of making mine. My cloth has a weave somewhat larger about an inch. Do you think they can snuggle through that? What did you use to hold down the bottom? I am going to try gravel. Maybe I'll need to make sausages. My son and I have a new (sick) joke. How can you tell when a tomato is just about ripe? When the rat eats it.
A rat's skull will actually compress so they can get through holes about 3/4" of an inch. I'd go 1/2". Then of course they can always chew through fabric. I'm thinking about hardware cloth if the net doesn't work.
I used metal poles with a chunk of concrete holding down the pole.
The rats here don't even wait until they are ripe. GRRRRRRRRR!!!! I need to set out traps, too.
Grrr! Rats, there are far too many of them! I suggest importing a few owls and a bunch of cats, maybe a coyote or two and some racoons. That ought to do it. If that's too much trouble, traps, traps, traps. Maybe you could be nice and feed them some of that yummy green pellet food. The damned things ate most of the roots of my banana tree during the winter. They were mad that I stopped feeding the birds and decided to teach me a lesson.
This is the first year I have rats eating first all my almost vine rippened tomatoes and secondly most of the green ones. They ate all my grapes (where's the crying my face off emojii) that were wrapped in netting bags. Yeah they chewed threw and let not one bite.
I prefer prettier garden to fruitless ones. Best defense so far?...Rat Traps. I'm raising some really fat rats :( (Now dead)
Well, mine are teases, they leave the green fruit for me to hope about. I need to go find my rat traps. I put them away when a garden tour was here--it kind of gave the wrong impression. Cong-rats on the good trapping!
That's serious protection. Is it hard to work with (e.g. to water, pick the fruit)? I HAVE to do something to protect the grapes next year. I don't think rats are my problem, though - the neighbors' outside cats seem to keep them at bay (which I suppose earns them the right to eat my catmint down to the ground). I wonder if even a fortress like this would keep the raccoons out?
I have a drip system for each raised bed, so water is automatic. To harvest I will just lift the netting. It is just draped over and held in place with the poles holding down the entire perimeter so the pests cannot get underneath and inside.
I guess it is a matter of experimenting to see what works for you. I have a neighbor who used chain link dog kennels, with bird netting over the chain link, to keep her veggies protected. Electric fence might be another option. As the other commenters said, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
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We'll see if it works.
I am in the process of making mine. My cloth has a weave somewhat larger about an inch. Do you think they can snuggle through that? What did you use to hold down the bottom? I am going to try gravel. Maybe I'll need to make sausages. My son and I have a new (sick) joke. How can you tell when a tomato is just about ripe? When the rat eats it.
ReplyDeleteA rat's skull will actually compress so they can get through holes about 3/4" of an inch. I'd go 1/2". Then of course they can always chew through fabric. I'm thinking about hardware cloth if the net doesn't work.
DeleteI used metal poles with a chunk of concrete holding down the pole.
The rats here don't even wait until they are ripe. GRRRRRRRRR!!!! I need to set out traps, too.
Isn't this gross?
Serious protection there and hopefully that'll do the trick! A gardener has to do what he has to do!
ReplyDeleteYes, but some gardeners have a better capacity for making things pretty. I need to prettify that.
DeleteGrrr! Rats, there are far too many of them! I suggest importing a few owls and a bunch of cats, maybe a coyote or two and some racoons. That ought to do it. If that's too much trouble, traps, traps, traps. Maybe you could be nice and feed them some of that yummy green pellet food. The damned things ate most of the roots of my banana tree during the winter. They were mad that I stopped feeding the birds and decided to teach me a lesson.
ReplyDeleteYes, and the non-human ones are even worse. ;^)
DeleteSeriously, you have my sympathies. As you see, I'm having the same problems.
This is the first year I have rats eating first all my almost vine rippened tomatoes and secondly most of the green ones. They ate all my grapes (where's the crying my face off emojii) that were wrapped in netting bags. Yeah they chewed threw and let not one bite.
ReplyDeleteI prefer prettier garden to fruitless ones. Best defense so far?...Rat Traps. I'm raising some really fat rats :( (Now dead)
Well, mine are teases, they leave the green fruit for me to hope about. I need to go find my rat traps. I put them away when a garden tour was here--it kind of gave the wrong impression. Cong-rats on the good trapping!
DeleteA gardener's got to do what a gardener's got to do.
ReplyDeleteIf she wants tomatoes on her salad, she does.
DeleteThat's serious protection. Is it hard to work with (e.g. to water, pick the fruit)? I HAVE to do something to protect the grapes next year. I don't think rats are my problem, though - the neighbors' outside cats seem to keep them at bay (which I suppose earns them the right to eat my catmint down to the ground). I wonder if even a fortress like this would keep the raccoons out?
ReplyDeleteI have a drip system for each raised bed, so water is automatic. To harvest I will just lift the netting. It is just draped over and held in place with the poles holding down the entire perimeter so the pests cannot get underneath and inside.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is a matter of experimenting to see what works for you. I have a neighbor who used chain link dog kennels, with bird netting over the chain link, to keep her veggies protected. Electric fence might be another option. As the other commenters said, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
Aesthetics be damned when tomatoes are at stake.
ReplyDeleteDarn right! I'll get to the aesthetics eventually. Right now it has to just work.
Delete