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Growing Tomatoes

My critter solution...

13 years ago

I live in Los Angeles, and have been doing the best I can with organic urban gardening on my little plot of land. I have huge amounts of envy for you folk who have those big gorgeous properties out in the country to grow massive veg gardens, but I'm pretty proud of what I've been able to do with my little growing area. Anyway, last year I had an amazing crop of tomatoes, but about half way through the summer my plants were decimated by rats. I had never had them before, but they found my plants and spent the summer feasting. I tried everything to get rid of them, from traps to fox urine granules, and eventually to poison (ugh! That one took a lot of persuading from my partner) but to no avail. So this year I decided that I simply would not let them have access. The salad bar is now closed. I put in a little extra work and built my tomato safe-houses. They are cages with hard wire mesh walls, hinged to allow access to all plants for me, but not for the little critters. Let'm try. I'm currently building stackable top pieces to allow for the growth of the plants as they out grow each bottom part. Anyway, just thought I'd share my work. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Comments (6)

Bets
13 years ago
Hi Ladon,

Nice piece of construction there. But I have to ask, do you have a top for it? The reason I ask is because I have had mice climb that high, so I am sure a rat could climb up and over and the salad bar would be open again.

Betsy
anney
13 years ago
I agree with Bets. Your cages are beautiful, but if those sucker rats can climb, you're going to need taller cages to provide for some extended growth, though if you have them supported inside the cages, you can just let them hang down when they're as tall as you can reach.

AND you'll need a top to prevent them from climbing into the cages.

I'd also take down those leaning pieces of wood, even though I suspect you're using them to keep the doors shut. They just give rodents a boost up the side!

If you can add more height and then a top to keep the critters out, I'm sure you'll get a good crop of maters this year.
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Predators are great for any small rodents, so I welcome them. I honestly haven’t found castor oil to be successful in discouraging voles at all, but my vole population pressure is really high. My gardens are surrounded by rough field. Here are a couple of my cages: I make most of my vole protection cages from 1/4" hardware cloth (wire mesh), though I have also used plastic mesh on some which seems to work as well, and the plastic is easier to work with. I use 36" wide rolls since I can make a cylinder about 11" diameter and I make them 6"-8" tall (cut off a strip 6"-8" from the end of the roll of mesh using tin snips rather than wire cutters.) I use wire to sort of sew together the slightly overlapped edges, but you might be able to use a few staples. You might be able to see the stitching on the left side of the left hand cylinder. If you need them larger, you can get a 24” roll of mesh and cut it into three 8” strips down the length of the roll and then cut the strips to whatever length needed for the diameter you want.
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star_stuff
13 years ago
Very nice...you are really creative and handy! It looks pretty too!
ladon
Original Author
13 years ago
Anney & Betsy... I am steps ahead of you. I know how crafty those buggers can be. I built the outer walls first, just to get the plants in. I'm working on the tops. Believe me...they will be completely access-free from all angles when they are done. Probably should have waited to show the completed project, but as I'm generally NOT a really handy person (at least with a hammer) I was pretty proud of my progress...LOL. Unfortunately, this year I've got a new problem to contend with as my poor plants have gotten nailed with a nasty fungal infection. If it's not one thing its another. Never knew it was so damned hard just to grow tomatoes.
christineinaz
13 years ago
Nice work!!
I live in AZ and have the same problem--rabbits, mice, and kangaroo rats. Simple chicken wire has worked these past 2 weeks, but I'm having a hard time now keeping the birds out.
Have to say, your design has inspired me...or should I say, has inspired me to inspire my husband to get busy and build something like yours! (Hinted to him he could either build something like this or sleep in the garden to keep these lil critters away! hahaha)
Please post more pics when you've finished the top--would love to see it!
tomatojoa
13 years ago
Don't get me started on rats and how much damage they can do! I've found that the best preventative is to put out many bait stations on your property. You need professional, heavy-duty bait stations (available from many places over the web) and that will take care of your rat problems. -JoAnne

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