Well of course animals can tell the difference in the quality of their forage! They'd never survive as a species if they couldn't. And there's nothing better than your garden for nutrition.

This is why they have chosen my kohlrabi first, I suppose. It's my sign to cover up anything I want to keep -- I use as much rowcover in fall as in spring. Given their druthers, the deer eat the big brassicas first, then move on to the turnips, arugula and other greens. They are far more aware of what's going on in their environment than we can imagine.

Planting a vegetable garden where deer forage is like opening an ice cream shop in a school cafeteria. It's not that the deer will starve if you keep them out, but they know what they like.

I did read somewhere recently that deer are attracted to plants that have grown in high nitrogen.Therefore, it's recommeded not to overfertilize your veggies.

Keski

It is my belief that deer are attracted to the shape and finish of tomatoes, because they remind them of apples or other fruits. This is why they love to take a single bite of tomato and drop the fruit, moving on to the next one. The same way a deer will pick and choose the fresher apples from the older ones lying on the ground. If there are any apples in your area, you can count on the deer being aware of them.

The deer don't touch my apples, or at least I haven't saw any evidence. I planted a half acre of Deer plot seed mix from tractor supply last year, in my field way away from my garden, at least 200 yards. I fertilized it well and it grew like crazy. The deer preferred my garden.... :( Barely ate any of the so called deer food!

Wertach,

Specifically, what kind of plants did you grow?

Sue

What they ate, Green beans, Hercules peas, Dixie peas, squash, crook neck and zucchini, okra, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, and bell pepper. They would bite any new growth every night.

The only thing they didn't eat, Tomatoes, which were in cages so they may not have been able to get to, jalapeno peppers, and my BJBB's.

I bought a scarecrow sprinkler and set it up next to my freshly planted strawberries and cabbage this weekend. I hope it works!

We allow an open area for deer way behind the garden, and even cut trails where we want them to go. In between the "deer field" and the garden is a 15-food-deep bramble thicket. Should they enter the garden via the narrow barricaded walking path, they encounter horseradish and various mints. This set-up keeps them out all summer, but local deer populations are low then, anyway. This summer we had one resident doe (with recent fawn) and we got along well together. I never even had to defend the bush beans (deer candy). Now deer chaos is setting in, so it's rowcover time again.

This year I finally tried deer netting around my small raised bed. This year I finally have whole, ripe tomatoes and peppers.

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I guess that I am going to have to scale down my garden size, so that I can fence it in. Fewer veggies is better than no veggies.

Hi, The long legged rabbits got me bad this year.. Where did you buy the screen, how much was it and what size (amount) did you buy?

Wertach, you're saying the Deer plot seed mix you sowed for the deer was "Green beans, Hercules peas, Dixie peas, squash, crook neck and zucchini, okra, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, and bell pepper"?

And they ignored it and ate your garden instead?

What I wanted to know was what was in the "Deer plot seed mix" that you sowed.

Sue

I got the deer netting at Menard's. A 7'x 100' roll for $15. It's not rip-proof...one of the cats tried running full out between the posts and the bed...didn't see the netting, bounced back a good ways and the netting split up the corner of the post. Probably wouldn't have happened with pipe or round posts. We tied it back together and it's held up nicely. It's very light and easy to put up. I haven't seen any sign of deer trying to get through it. Last year they ripped my nylon tulle apart to get to the maters. They can't see the netting, but can feel it. It spooks them and they move on. That said, the deer that hang out near here are mostly doe and their young. There is one buck that showed up this year. I would imagine the netting would be toast if he got his antlers caught in it, but he stays closer to the wooded area. The 'gals' will still come up just a few feet from our front door to check out my other plants.

Opps sorry Sue. I don't remember everything that was in it, it was a premixed bag. It had clover and something that looked kind of like millet.

Gosh, I'm really really sorry that you don't have any deer to experiment with. Brings tears to my eyes - if only the rest of us could bring you some!

I mineralized a big patch of sweet potatoes at my place in north florida, planted the slips in early april and worked hard to keep them alive in very dry windy weather. The patch grew spectacularly once the rains came. In the past five years of gardening there with cow manure and mushroom compost, including sweet potatoes, never had a deer graze anything. Put in a whole range of minerals and bang, they smelled it from miles away.

>>> "Gosh, I'm really really sorry that you don't have any deer to experiment with. Brings tears to my eyes - if only the rest of us could bring you some!"

That's okay *pat,pat*, I've got enough raccoons and opossums to make up for them.

Sue

Here is a link to the deer mix I planted Sue. It doesn't say whats in it though.

Here is a link that might be useful: tractor supply deer mix

I think your netting may be more for fruit trees than deer.
Id be afraid the herd would crash into that and get all tangled...

There is a farm near my home where they have a 10ft high fence of netting- it looks much heavier.

How did you mineralize, PN? I assume some K-rich stuff (greensand?), given FL conditions.

Just in case you haven't discovered or realized that deer WILL EAT ANYTHING AND EVERTHING in the plant world just to iritate us humans and to keep us trying to formulate techniques to keep them from demolishing our gardens, shrubs and flowers. They have eaten nearly every known plant species known to man maybe not in your location but in someone's. Not because they are necessarily hungry....No, just to make us angry and frustrated ! LOL, Amen !

Deer, like other animals, develop appetites for certain foods and then are repeatedly drawn back to forage on them. As browsers they have a knack for selecting the better quality parts of a plant, like the tender growing shoots, fruits or even seeds of pumpkins or squash.

I find that a 6 wire electric fence is the only thing that works to restrict them and then only when the fence is not shorted by weeds or grass. Occasionally i see tracks where one may jump or pass through the fence but I haven't seen the damage for 15 years now since I installed a fence.

What I purchased is cheap enough that if it gets damaged I won't mind getting more. Also, I only used half the roll for my 4'x 12' bed so I have enough for next season. Being apartment dwellers we can't put up any permanent barrier so the posts and netting will be removed for the winter(at management's request).

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Netting

I looked up the cost of deer fencing for my garden (easy over $200) I think Ill be buying your light weight stuff.

Glib, I introduced K, S and mag with sul-po-mag, manganese sulphate, copper sulphate and cobalt sulphate, and stone dust into the mushroom compost.

The sweets were really liking it. The deer ate every leaf right at peak foliage mass. They didn't touch the seminole pumpkin foliage. Why bother, SP is far more nutritious.