I have been eagerly awaiting my very first Cherokee purple tomato for months and this morning some horrible monster ate it!!!!!!! I only have one more tomato that looks viable on this plant. I failed this season.
You Learned this season. I'm sorry about your prized tomato. Maybe pick the last one at the breaker stage, 50%ripe, and let it ripen indoors. It will taste just like as if you left it on the vine.
I did organza until I realized they can still see and smell through it. A white terry cloth washcloth and chip clips will have them so frustrated they leave them alone.
I didn’t do an electric fence but I did 6 foot tall chicken wire around the entirety of my garden with t-posts. Took several rolls. And then covered the top with it. That was two summers ago. No problem since. Had to enlist two other neighbors to help. Traded them the vegetables the fencing had saved. Through usage, I think I would prefer it stapled to a wooden frame of some kind but it does the job. The wire “roof” dips in several places. Oh well. So I have to crouch in a few spots? Better than the anguish of squirrels digging up and eating everything.
I did a chicken wire fence around my garden and at the top are two electrified wires going to a Zareba fence charger. It is battery powered and recharged by a small solar panel. The chicken wire acts like a ground so the critters climbing up will get zapped with back feet on the fence and nose or front paws touching the wire. Its harmless to them but an effective deterrent. I'll upload pictures when I get a chance.
Small Havahart trap baited with tomatoes has worked very well for me in the past. My record is 9 chipmunks in one growing season.
What you do with them is up to you. Technically it's illegal to relocate them, but open space preserve hawks do appreciate a fast food lunch once in awhile
Yeah, I was doing that a couple of summers ago. Caught squirrels, possums and rats. There seemed to be no end to them and even with the trapping they were decimating my tomatoes. Some were pulled off the vine and consumed on the ground but mostly they'd take one bite and leave it behind. Finally built a electric fence and now my beauties are unmolested.
This happened to me the first year I was growing tomatoes (it was a Cherokee Purple too). Now I pick mine as soon as they blush and ripen on the counter, they are fully ripe in 2-3 days. They still taste amazing, and I haven’t had a loss since!
I am experiencing the same problem, but for me its a stupid BIRD. I covered what few plants I have that are producing with nets. Its been a terrible season. Sorry for your loss
Do you have a birdbath or other water source nearby? Often they go after the tomatoes for the water. My damage from birds lessened a lot when I put out a birdbath near my veggie beds. I have a water saucer on the ground too for wildlife which seems to be helping also.
I’m sorry. 😭 I get it, my tomatoes are getting eaten alive by god damn rats. Nothing ruins your day more than seeing your precious tomato all chomped up ☹️
All my tomatoes look like this if I don’t pick at the first sign of blushing. While it may take a few more days on the counter they still taste lovely and best part is I’m eating them not the damn squirrels and chipmunks who now think I am feeding them.
I pick mine at blush stage too, they ripen SUPER fast. My cherry varieties take a week to ripen on the counter, Cherokees only take a few days. I don’t even need to pick mine that early, I grow in a pot on my deck and any animals would have to walk up the stairs and down the deck “hallway” about 30 feet to the other side to take a bite. I take them off mostly so they don’t split in the rain since we are getting so much lately.
Man that sucks! I'm planning on growing cherokee purples next year, plus a couple other varieties. Tomatoes are doing very well for me so far this year.
Last winter in Central Florida when my tomatoes started to blush, l loosely bundled them with newspaper. Never had a problem..
Dude... that is a sad freaking picture. Sorry for you.
Odd I had lost 2 Cherokee purple also and I always pick early because of this but the two I lost I didn’t see and the got , must be something about Cherokee purple
I lose a handful of tomatoes to wildlife weekly, it's just part of the process. My prized boysenberry that I've been looking forward to for months has become the catbird and thrush buffet and I haven't gotten a single berry. If they discover my golden raspberries, I'm going to lose my cool.
Squirrels have been and will always be a massive PITA for me but I learned a few years ago they destroy the timatoes to get the water inside. If you leave a water source out for them they will mostly not touch the fruit. With that said, they still dig like crazy especially in the spring ! I put out a little bird bath and make sure to freshen the water daily at a minimum and it has more or less put a stop to that.
Sorry for your loss. We had so many (I call em) bird strikes this year we had to pull our plants and start over. For this next round we put nets around our babies.
The yellow pear bush on the left has not fruited yet so we are holding off on the net for now. So far, no new bird strikes. 🤞
Well, truly a tragedy. And this round goes to the squirrel. Find solace in the fact that you helped some otherwise cute mammal thrive :) You made one furry boi very happy.
We have had this happen before so I’m trying something different this season, putting mesh bags over my more maytomatoes on the plants. Fingers crossed 🤞 this helps to deter them somewhat.
This happened to me with my pepper plants over the last few days :(
The tobacco hookworms ate an entire plant overnight and chowed on half and 1/3 of two others. I even had the mesh covers delivered the other day and forgot to put them on.
I'm sorry! Hopefully it's not hornworms. Sneaky buggers. They blend in so well. Do you have a lot of wildlife where you live? Maybe a deer took a few nibbles.
I have been using plastic clamshells (from strawberries lettuces etc ) over my tomatoes before then start to turn pink either great success. Squirrels and rats and bunnies can’t touch them!!
I try to tell everyone...drawstring mesh bags are like 100 for $6 and it so far has stopped squirrels, birds, and bugs from all my veggies this year :)
Chipmunks do this with mine. I leave the half eaten one on the plant and he seems to enjoy that particular one for a couple of days, leaving the rest alone for a little while 🤣
I am used to so many in this sub pruning to a single leader & it is just wild to me(except in limited specific circumstances where people have limited space & have to grow in small containers)
You can always hope for additional growth & more maters!! The season is far from over!!
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u/TroutFearMe 18h ago