rats! eating my Tomato Tone

[ChrisPlano]

We have a savvy rat in our garden. Usually the rat terrier and his well-trained misc terrier brothers and sisters quickly dispense of rats, but this one is smart and I think he doesn't actually live in our back yard. He just runs along the top of the fence and drops in for a visit.

He is digging around the tomatoes and digging up Tomato Tone to eat it. If I apply a side dressing, that's the area that is dug up. I have mulch so the digging is obvious.

So... can I mix in cayenne pepper and pepper flakes with no ill effect on the tomatoes or their flavor? Can I train Mr. Big Rat that my garden is to be avoided? Or do I have to set a trap> I really don't want to do that. Call me nuts, but I'm mostly okay with the rat terrier doing his thing and quickly disposing of a rat. I've seen it. It's a highly professional and instantaneous death. He is thrilled to fulfill his mission in life. But I can't quite bring myself to set a trap and kill the critter myself. I'd rather just train him away, especially since he may start actually eating tomatoes when they start tomatoing and other things (I have some fava beans that are starting to bean).

Am I nuts? And will the hot pepper be okay to try? Other tips? These tomato plants will be huge (Paul Robesons - 2nd year) so I don't want to build a cage. He'd just dig under anyway.

Thanks

[Worth1]

Rats have a keen sense of smell the red pepper powder should work it will not effect your plants at all.
But your dog will notice it too and may snork and sneeze.
My dog liked red pepper.
He like hot peppers in general.

Worth

[ChrisPlano]

Thanks for the reply. The raised bed gardens do have those small green wire "border fences" around them to discourage the dogs from jumping in, so I may give it a try as long as it's not right on the edge of the bed.

I've heard of dogs liking hot pepper! My partner had a dog who loved tomatoes right off the vine. Thankfully none of ours have discovered that they are good eats.

[Jeannine Anne]

I have had a rat eat my tomatoes for the past couple of years, and this rat has class, he waits till they are ripe and he prefers certain varieties too. A few weeks ago one had eaten through the wiring on my freezer so my son in law put a trap out right by the freezer and he caught just one.. I am hoping it was the freezer/tomato eater but in reality I doubt it. We will see.

XX Jeannine

[b54red]

I can tell you from sad experience that you need to get rid of the rat or whatever is eating your stuff quickly and permanently. I had a few messing in my garden from my neighbors woodpile and under his shed about 20 years ago one spring but didn't take any action right away. Boy was that a mistake! About six weeks later they ate all my sweet corn, dug up most of my potatoes and decimated my tomatoes and peppers and some of them even moved into my shed. I tried have a heart type traps and even got my boys to bring me a few white oak snakes from Boy Scout camp. The snakes were the most effective thing but they stayed in my shed and really made me jump a few times when I went in there at night. Finally with the population ever increasing despite the hungry snakes I got a good bait station that my dogs couldn't get into and in a few days there were dead rats all over my garden and even in my shed. My dogs would find them and bring them to the back door as a present but they never ate them or got sick from the poison. So now at the first gnawing signs of rats or mice I put a little bait in the bait station and set it out near where they have been active and in a few days no more problems. Since that disaster I have been very vigilant. At the time that happened I had no idea how fast they reproduced or how utterly destructive they were. Another lesson learned the hard way.

Bill

[OzoneNY]

I have this problem now. Some rodent is eating my almost ripe tomatoes before I can pluck em.

[Dewayne mater]

Rats prefer them a little ripe, but, the hotter it gets, the less picky they get and start eating them green. A rat trap takes care of the ones around me which are not much bigger than field mice. I was about to start setting them out and now I will do so this weekend!

[BigVanVader]

My neighbor, who was a potato farmer in Idaho before selling it and moving here, said rats are a huge issue there and that every farmer has like 20 cats hanging around to help control them

[ChrisPlano]

OzoneNY, we're neighbors! Last year was my first for Tomatoes here (also a NY-er and hadn't grown tomatoes since I was a kid helping family). I had both squirrels and birds eating the tomatoes. Especially mockingbirds. As tomatoes appeared on higher branches, I came to realize it was really mostly birds even though they looked gnawed. I saw them. Mocking birds mocking me.

Don't assume it's rats. My early season probs were different -- it was digging for the organic tomato food and I saw one flushed out by the dogs.

I don't have an answer for how to prevent the tomato gnawing for almost-ripe. Last year I ended up giving in and following advice to pick them soon after they show color and let them ripen on the kitchen counter. I was skeptical but after reading many comments, I'm with many others who state that once they start to ripen, you can't taste the difference whether it's on or off vine. At some point, they close off contact with the vine. I STILL want them to get redder out there just out of principal though, and because I don't 100% believe that they are as good! There is just no way I could do that last year once the birds knew about the garden.

My toms are a late maturing variety (Paul Robeson mostly) so are still green but a few are just starting to go light green. I want to try to bag the clusters and singles to disguise from birds and have been searching for pre-made products to no avail. I may try to make some from row cover. I was also hit with leaf footed bugs LATE in the season last year (aka stink bugs) and concerned they may return. The bags over the tomatoes would help with that too.

I know... a bit obsessive and unattractive. Pick the tomatoes early.

BTW, after visiting a local pest control company and learning more about the modern type of bait traps and their reduced impact on wildlife, dog risks, etc, that's what I decided to do. Sorry little critters, but I can't have roof rats overrunning the property. It's not just about the 'maters.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I had a bag of tomato tone in my garage. The rats (or mice) ate holes in the bag. It was an effort to pick the bag up without spillage everywhere. My garage stank!

[ChrisPlano]

I liked the results of Garden Tone (for other veggies) and Tomato Tone last year, and am trying to stay organic, but even my dogs want to dig it up and eat it.

[MarianneW]

You need to do everyone a favor & kill the rats. Snap traps work but I've had problems with protected birds being attracted to them. I've resorted to bait stations that have an interior maze so the birds can't get to it. One rat stole bait from the station (yay?) but they're much more interested in the bait than my I ripe tomatoes.

I agree about it might be birds. Birds dig up my garden looking for bugs. They take my plants. They eat my ripe tomatoes & chiles. It would not surprise me if they're digging up & taking fertilizer. They take darn near everything else! But, many are protected so you can't just do something about them. They're crafty and I've never devised a system to date that kept them away from my plants. The only effective solution I've seen is a huge cage over a garden, big enough for people to walk in, that's double layers of metal. Yes, someone I know actually resorted to that.

[OzoneNY]

I am ruling out birds on the grounds they cant get in. The entire patch is covered over the top in bird net and chicken wire all around the bottom. Plenty of small gaps for rodents but no way a bird is getting in. Besides, the culprit is nocturnal. I see the result only in the AM

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[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by ChrisPlano

OzoneNY, we're neighbors! Last year was my first for Tomatoes here (also a NY-er and hadn't grown tomatoes since I was a kid helping family).

Neighbors we are

Depending on what part of NY, maybe we were in the past.

[ChrisPlano]

Wow Ozone. I am impressed with your setup!

If you decide you want to go after the rats and want detailed help with the best way to do it, we can recommend The Pest Shop in Plano. Small shop and they really took time to work with us one-on-one and address some of my concerns about bait traps (my concerns were outdated for modern products). Roof Rat populations are out of control around these parts. And, yes, it's working.