Why do some get nibbled?

[GreenThumbGal_07]

I was looking forward to harvesting Old Brooks this afternoon. Thought I saw at least two ripe fruits, one hiding behind some foliage.
Picked both, and the first had a bite taken out of it, the second one nearly gone!
I believe birds were the culprit in this case. The weather has been really dry and tomatoes offer juice. I hadn't filled the dog's water dish for a few days and perhaps the birds sought out the tomatoes as a water source.
However, this variety was the only one pecked at. There were bigger and more succulent tomatoes ripening, but they were ignored. Why this one? It isn't bigger or more attractive, I think.
A couple of things do make it different. For one, the fruit has no green shoulders (perhaps this is a recessive trait). For another, and I am not sure this has anything to do with the fruit being pecked at, this is the only plant suffering from chlorosis. I have treated it no differently than the other plants and they have received all the same basic potting soil (container garden) and fertilizer, and are all watered regularly.
One year I grew Bradley and that was the one the wasps liked. Bradley is still green, nothing ripe yet. We will see.

[brownrexx]

I used to think that they were just seeking water but now I think that they are looking for the seeds.

I feed tomatoes to my chickens when I get damaged ones and they will eat the seeds but leave the pulp. They also only eat red or blushing ones. If I put a half red one in their coop, they will eat the red part and leave the green part alone.

This is why I pick my tomatoes at first blush and let them finish ripening indoors.

[slugworth]

birds don't bite
probably mice or rats
if you can't see the fruits before picking,birds can't either.

[zipcode]

Birds, if they were birds, or animals in general seem to go for whatever is easier to get at and color. I found a few years ago that once birds get a taste of tomatoes, usually because of water indeed (possibly also food shortage due to high numbers), they don't let them go after that, even if they drown in water. Until next season, I think their memory is short, when you need to do a better job at keeping water around.

[PaulF]

We have several sources of water in the yard that we refresh fairly often. There has been very little gnawing or pecking on tomatoes over the years. I do think animals are after the water. We have a trail camera so I think it will get aimed at the pond just to see how the traffic is. Maybe that keeps pests out of the garden.

[slugworth]

I asked a local garden center about the season and she said either good or vermin problems.
So it wasn't just me.
In the good old days you could let plants sprawl and not worry about cages or staking.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Originally Posted by slugworth

birds don't bite
probably mice or rats
if you can't see the fruits before picking,birds can't either.

Hey Slugworth,
You're absolutely right.
Went down late this morning and saw one ripe St. Pierre lying on the ground, mostly gone, with little bits of tomato skin spat out (?).
I went to the vine and picked the remaining (almost) ripe one, and noted on one side there were two sets of bite marks. Symmetrical, you could see the top and the bottom teeth marks. This one didn't pass the taste test and so was left alone. However, because each mark is in a "v" shape (like parentheses) and is about 1.5 cm apart, I'd strongly suspect some rodent rather than a bird. Rat or squirrel? Don't know. But I am tempted to spray the fruit with some pest repellent (pepper based) which will render it all but inedible to me without some vigorous washing off.

[slugworth]

Last year I lost a tomato that was inside a mesh bag and zipped up.
The vermin still ate through the bag.
The remnants of the tomato weighed 24oz,so it may have been 26 or 28oz before tragedy struck.
They ate the bottom right off.

[slugworth]

Originally Posted by GreenThumbGal_07

Hey Slugworth,
You're absolutely right.
Went down late this morning and saw one ripe St. Pierre lying on the ground, mostly gone, with little bits of tomato skin spat out (?).
I went to the vine and picked the remaining (almost) ripe one, and noted on one side there were two sets of bite marks. Symmetrical, you could see the top and the bottom teeth marks. This one didn't pass the taste test and so was left alone. However, because each mark is in a "v" shape (like parentheses) and is about 1.5 cm apart, I'd strongly suspect some rodent rather than a bird. Rat or squirrel? Don't know. But I am tempted to spray the fruit with some pest repellent (pepper based) which will render it all but inedible to me without some vigorous washing off.

That was no boating accident.

[slugworth]

I hate it when they take one bite then go on to the next tomato.
Tomato color has a big effect on crop loss.
Colors other than red have a better chance of surviving.

[GoDawgs]

Squirrels! This is exactly how my tomatoes have been decimated. We've had to pick them semi ripe and let them finish ripening indoors. Then the squirrels started in on the green ones.

Now they're starting in on the half ripe muscadine grapes, leaving skins all over the ground. Unlike tomatoes, the grapes can't be picked early. There probably won't be any muscadine jelly put up this year.

Time for depopulation with no regrets.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Originally Posted by slugworth

I hate it when they take one bite then go on to the next tomato.
Tomato color has a big effect on crop loss.
Colors other than red have a better chance of surviving.

They completely ignored Woodle Orange.
Bradley (pink) is up next. Hope they overlook it.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Originally Posted by slugworth

That was no boating accident.

Those little rascals came in and finished that half-eaten tomato.

[johnkaplantech]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

Squirrels! This is exactly how my tomatoes have been decimated. We've had to pick them semi ripe and let them finish ripening indoors. Then the squirrels started in on the green ones.

Now they're starting in on the half ripe muscadine grapes, leaving skins all over the ground. Unlike tomatoes, the grapes can't be picked early. There probably won't be any muscadine jelly put up this year.

Time for depopulation with no regrets.

I've had trouble with squirrels too eating some of my tomatoes. They have definite preferences for specific types. Last year it was the big yellow-orange ones they picked on (Mr Stripey or Solar Flare), but after I lost a few early in the season, I started picking them just when they turned from green and let them ripen inside, and that solved the problem for me; they didn't go for the green ones.

[slugworth]

I tell my family I need my own greenhouse with a lock on the door.
Last year it was deer and vermin.
This year just vermin.
I had the opposite effect with the deer,they left my orange tomatoes alone and just ate the green/red ones.