Bird pecked tomatoes
vance8b
16 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (20)
vegjoe
16 years agovegomatic
16 years agoRelated Discussions
birds pecking peaches
Comments (8)Nets. Nets. Nets. That's the only sure bet. Don't waste your time with scare tape and owls and all the other things. The birdbrain has been unduely slandered. They figure things out pretty quickly. For a while I was hanging AOL CDs on the trees thinking that they were pretty close to the same effect as scare tape. Then I noticed that the house finches were actually perching on them to pick at the cherries. (Fortunately we don't have to deal with birds like lorikeets that friend from Oz insists can chew through nylon nets as an appetitizer before hitting the fruit. Most of my finches and scrub jays are sufficiently deterred by the netting.) Don...See MoreBird pecked my Lithops and Pleiospilos nelii
Comments (3)As long as they don't get infected i think they'll make it, lithops are quite tough tho. I 'm not a Lithops specialist, but there surely are some on this forum, i'd say pot it up and hope for the best, but maybe you should something different. I'm very sorry i can't help you with that. Good luck! :)...See MoreI have a pepper!
Comments (4)Debra, The best way to identify a young pepper is probably by its shape. If it is a jalapeno pepper, the fruit will be more smooth and uniform, and in a tapered cone shape. If it is a cayenne pepper, it will tend to be fairly narrow and will be less regular in shape....and often curly or twisty. The problem is that there are a lot of jalapeno peppers (Grande, Ixtapa, Jaloro, Mucho Nacho, Biker Billy, Purple Jalapeno, Fooled You, Senorita, TAM, Jalapeno M and Jalapa, to name a few) and they can range a great deal in length, at maturity, from 2-4" and in width from about 1 to 1 1/2". There also are a variety of cayenne peppers including Purple Cayenne, Super Cayenne II, Golden Cayenne, Large Red Thick Cayenne and Long Red Slim Cayenne, so there's a lot of size variation there too. Most cayennes, though, will be between 1/2" and 3/4" wide, although Large Red Thick Cayenne can be up to 1 1/4" wide. In general, cayenne pepper plants get taller than most jalapeno pepper plants and have smaller leaves, but I've seen some pretty tall jalapeno pepper plants too. Pepper leaf size can vary a lot depending on soil fertility, moisture available to the plants and the amount of sunlight they receive. Some peppers are picked and used green, and this is especially true of jalapenos. I pick them when they are about the size I'm expecting for whatever particular variety I am growing. If you leave your jalapeno peppers on the plant until they turn red, they'll often have a slightly (but not much) sweeter taste. With cayennes, I don't harvest them green but instead let them turn their mature color before harvesting. Another way to judge whether they're ready is by the "Days To Maturity" for the type you're growing. Many cayennes mature in 70-80 days and many jalapenos mature in 80-100 days, so that might help you decide when to harvest, especially if you know which cayenne and which jalapeno you're growing. One clue that peppers are vey mature is that you'll see little brown stitch-like lines on them. This is a sign they are ready (almost beyond ready) to pick. When you pick them, cut them with a pair of scissors or pruners because pepper plants are very brittle and break easily. It is easy to break off an entire limb while trying to "pull" a pepper. Sometimes you have to toss a bird-pecked tomato and sometimes you can leave it on and let it mature. If they pecked a green tomato so deeply that you can see the seeds and gel inside, go ahead and pick it and toss it because bacteria will set in and ruin the fruit before it can ripen. If the bird peck mark is mostly superficial and not deep, you can leave the fruit on the plant. Sometimes it will ripen and you can use it after cutting off the affected portion. Other times, rot may eventually set in and you'll have to toss it too. The birds are wanting water most of the time when they peck into tomatoes. I keep a shallow pan of water just outside the garden gate for them and that seems to help although it doesn't guarantee me peck-free tomatoes. Hornworms eat my daturas and also the common wild nightshades in the pastures, so I imagine yours will too. I also have the very similar tobacco hornworms show up on my flowering nicotines some years. Dawn...See Moregarden hygiene
Comments (7)Vance, glad to hear that your garden in coming along nicely. I have no tolerance for sickly plants...I rip them out as soon as I see them. I also prune for my needs....overly huge toms are a pain to tie up so I cut back their canes, and I take out the lowest ones so I don't trip on them. I control the garden, it does not control me. And I'm a major control freak. You have to keep a keen eye on what you have and judge it against the time and money that you can put into the garden. If you have too many plants to take care of then yank the worst of them first. Then prune and tidy what's left. If it still is too much then yank some plants that you don't care about. Eventually you'll be able to balance the number of plants in the entire garden with the care you can give to make the garden habitable, clean, and a place that you enjoy visiting. This year, I'm growing mostly determinate toms, simply because they are a lot easier to take care of. I don't have the time anymore to do a jungle of tom plants, so the smaller dets will be less work and once they make their bulk crop they will get yanked...meaning that there's less work with them all season. They crop and I'm done with them. Out they go. T...See Morevegomatic
16 years agotexanjana
16 years agovance8b
16 years agomaggie-2007
16 years agordubow
16 years agocaptbobs
16 years agocurly77
16 years agocurly77
16 years agoAnnie
16 years agoAnnie
16 years agoyardenman
16 years agowhyrag
16 years agostoddad
16 years agosandradee
16 years agoFred_in_Maine
16 years agoraphaella_2002_yahoo_com
12 years agojflores85
8 years ago
Related Stories
EDIBLE GARDENSSummer Crops: How to Grow Tomatoes
Plant tomato seedlings in spring for one of the best tastes of summer, fresh from your backyard
Full StoryCOLOR10 Reasons to Make a Splash With Tomato Red
You won’t duck at these tomatoes. See how bold red shades can play up architecture, light up a dark spot and add drama
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESBackyard Birds: Healthy Home Habitats for Northern Flickers
These colorful woodpeckers found across the U.S. and Canada love berries, seeds and ants and often nest in deep burrows in trees
Full StoryGARDENING FOR BIRDSBackyard Birds: Meet Some Clever and Curious Jays
Boisterous jays provide plenty of backyard bird-watching in winter. Here’s how to identify all the varieties and welcome them into your yard
Full StoryGARDENING FOR BIRDSBackyard Birds: How to Identify Two Common Woodpeckers
Downy and hairy woodpeckers have similar coloration and behavior. But there are two big differences that separate them
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESBackyard Birds: Create a Home for American Kestrels
These copper-colored birds of prey can be found throughout North and South America and often find habitats near human activity
Full StoryGARDENING FOR BIRDSWhat to Know About Birds Nesting in Your Yard
Learn how to observe, record data and help ornithologists with NestWatch’s citizen science project understand bird trends
Full StoryOUTDOOR PROJECTSBring In the Birds With a Homemade Bubble Rock
An avian expert from Southern Indiana shows how to make a burbling fountain that migrating birds will love
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESBackyard Birds: Orioles Return After Spending Winter in the Tropics
These colorful songbirds prefer woodlands and forest edges, but they’ll visit yards with fruit-producing trees and shrubs
Full StoryHISTORIC HOMESHouzz Tour: Meet the Schoolhouse Saved By ‘The Birds’
Once featured in Hitchcock’s feathery film, this schoolhouse has stood the test of time
Full StorySponsored
vance8bOriginal Author