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Growing Tomatoes

The case of disappearing fruit on tomato plants

13 years ago

I am stumped....I tended the garden yesterday and had tomatoes....today I go out and the very visible fruit is missing. Picked clean and no trace of the fruit. The plants are large and the missing fruit was taken from about 3 ft up from bottom. The more hidden and bottom fruit wasn't taken only the very visible fruit was. The plants are not disturbed and there are no tracks. The fruit was still green...8-10 days from harvest. The tomatoes were large so I don't think a bird took them. Anyone have any ideas.

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Comments (3)

junktruck
13 years ago
if it wasnt a bad neihbor / my guess would b racoon or ground hog or some other critter / what i use is i mix 1 gallon of water with 2 tblsp of cayenne pepper and a lil dish soap and spray it around and on your plants it has worked for me
digdirt2
13 years ago
Yep, it is actually a common problem that comes up here and on the vegetable Gardening forum so you aren't alone - if that is any comfort. ;)

Squirrels will steal them - they love green tomatoes too - as will all the garden invaders already listed.

Personally I won't use the pepper sprays because of the pain and damage to the animal they cause but there are many repellents you can buy and in previous discussions other suggestions include live traps, fencing of course, flashers, motion sensor sprinklers, etc. etc.

But first you have to watch and try to ID the culprit.

Dave
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taz6122
13 years ago
You don't have to ID anything if you use some big cat manure. Just sprinkle around your garden and reapply after a heavy rain. It's probably squirrels. Others will leave some kind of evidence behind, paw prints, broken branches etc.

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