warring with the dear...

[Britesea]

Jubilee, were these the REAL jalapenos- that are smallish and hot- or the newer ones I'm finding in my grocery store that are larger and much milder?

 

[k15n1]

I just put up an electric fence, with a strand at 1', 3', and 6'. I used the 12-mile fencer form Farm & Fleet. I put it up after they got about half of my beets and carrots. Since then, no problems. Oh, I put bits of wire and aluminum foil on the wires. Someone told me that the deer would sniff those. Coons are also drawn to shiny things but I don't have any sweet corn this year so the low wire may not be important.

I put it up with a single wire so that it would be easy to clean up. I have to take down the fence to get the plow in there. I have about 75' square and I only needed 8 T-posts to make it work. Would probably need some more supports for an 8" wire, which some people swear by. Took me 4 hours to put it up with n00b mistakes.

 

[~gd]

Jubilee, were these the REAL jalapenos- that are smallish and hot- or the newer ones I'm finding in my grocery store that are larger and much milder?

Heat in peppers depend on the growing conditions. Generally more sun=more heat. more water=bigger,lower heat. I am not a pepper fan but a friend showed me his "his and hers" patch. His would make steam come out my ears [He was a Manly Man. not a woose like me, Hers were much milder and bigger. He toold me that the seeds were from the same pack only the growing conditions were changed.

 

[Denim Deb]

That's really interesting, GD. Is it all hot peppers, or only certain varieties?

 

[Britesea]

I never realized it was a result of how much sun and water the plants get... wow

 

[~gd]

That's really interesting, GD. Is it all hot peppers, or only certain varieties?

Darned if I Know I have a slight allergy to peppers so i won't even touch anything hotter.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

The only thing that lets me sleep at night is an 8' chicken wire fence with the bottom turned out 6 inches so the rabbits can't dig under it. But before I had that I used an egg yolk spray that worked well against anything that wanted to eat the veggies. The only thing that makes this need repeating more often is rain or heavy fog.

Separate out 2 yolks and blend in a bowl with a little water and a fork. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour egg through it into cup with a pourable lip. Fill a kitchen-sized spray bottle, about 16 oz?, 3/4 full of water, then add egg. Shake well. Store in fridge about a week, but you should use it by then anyway

Spray everything every three days, unless it rains, then spray right away. It's not about stinky eggs. There is a chemical in eggs animals don't like. I knew what it was once, but I don't remember now. It always worked against raccoons, rabbits, deer.

I've had terrible problems with netting catching other animals, like bats. I had to spend 1/2 hour on my knees on the ground cutting a large gopher snake loose with manicure scissors, and how he managed to get through those 1/4" holes, I have no idea, but he went through dozens of them. I held a garbage can lid over his head so I wouldn't freak out about the hissing. Saved his head for last, but he wasn't aggressive. I had to do this twice, actually. And another piece of it blew into the driveway in a storm, I didn't see it, and it wound around the axle and the brakes. Somebody in a parking lot noticed it, and I had to crawl under there and cut it loose. Netting is just bad stuff.

I've also attributed a lot of damage to deer, when it was really the rabbits. They can stand on their hind legs and chew higher than you think! A lot of "deer proof" plants are not rabbit proof.

 

[~gd]

The only thing that lets me sleep at night is an 8' chicken wire fence with the bottom turned out 6 inches so the rabbits can't dig under it. But before I had that I used an egg yolk spray that worked well against anything that wanted to eat the veggies. The only thing that makes this need repeating more often is rain or heavy fog.

Separate out 2 yolks and blend in a bowl with a little water and a fork. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour egg through it into cup with a pourable lip. Fill a kitchen-sized spray bottle, about 16 oz?, 3/4 full of water, then add egg. Shake well. Store in fridge about a week, but you should use it by then anyway

Spray everything every three days, unless it rains, then spray right away. It's not about stinky eggs. There is a chemical in eggs animals don't like. I knew what it was once, but I don't remember now. It always worked against raccoons, rabbits, deer.

I've had terrible problems with netting catching other animals, like bats. I had to spend 1/2 hour on my knees on the ground cutting a large gopher snake loose with manicure scissors, and how he managed to get through those 1/4" holes, I have no idea, but he went through dozens of them. I held a garbage can lid over his head so I wouldn't freak out about the hissing. Saved his head for last, but he wasn't aggressive. I had to do this twice, actually. And another piece of it blew into the driveway in a storm, I didn't see it, and it wound around the axle and the brakes. Somebody in a parking lot noticed it, and I had to crawl under there and cut it loose. Netting is just bad stuff.

I've also attributed a lot of damage to deer, when it was really the rabbits. They can stand on their hind legs and chew higher than you think! A lot of "deer proof" plants are not rabbit proof.

No reflection on your post but many animals love eggs I have film of racoons eating eggs and carrying them away. Your facts may be straight for herbivores but carnivores love to eat eggs No real opinion on omnivores except chickens pigs and men they all love to eat eggs.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

gd, yes, I know they love eggs. But when you separate out the yolk, you dilute it and spray it, the chemicals in the yolk are what they are responding to, it's not an egg anymore. This worked for me and protected 300 tomato plants with tomatoes on them, limbs of fruit trees, pumpkins and squashes from raccoons and deer. We have a farm and sell vegetables and needed serious protection. I wouldn't post this if it didn't work. The only weak link in it is if it rains or the fog is wet enough that it's like mist, then the spray is too dilute and doesn't work.

There are also stinky egg sprays you can buy, and those are using the same principle. But it doesn't have to stink to work.

 

[KellyK]

A good "scarecrow" for deer are the cattle horns / skulls.
I have a neighbor that puts them up in her garden every year and the deer stay clear. I have yet to have an issue with deer. We have the field mice, and moles hitting our tomatoes this year.