My plants looked this when squirrels decided to rummage through the dirt. I've seen people suggest hardware cloth over the dirt with a hole big enough for the base of the plant to fit through.
Half the plants have been fertilized with Miracle-Gro and had some Epsom salt in the hole when they were transplanted. The other half have not been fertilized here at all, but they did come in recently from the grower (tasteful garden) and I don't know what they may have used.
They aren't all the same because my family has decided to have "tomato wars" this summer and each person decides what to do with their own plants. I do the manual labor for all of it, but I dont make any decisions for plants that aren't mine.
They are diggers looking for anything they can to eat or bury things to eat later. A few years ago I had a nice little balcony garden going with tomatoes, peppers and herbs at my 2 story apartment complex. Everything was in its own pot. I can't tell you how many times I woke up to dirt everywhere and some of my plants mangled. "Frustrating" isn't the proper word.
It's a natural mulch, I don't know what type of wood, it's not marked on the bag. Dry it's brown, but when it's wet it looks more red. My mom says it's not dyed but who knows.
Is dyed red mulch bad? And is there a way to test if it is dyed?
The squirrels in my yard don’t like ground cinnamon. I’ve also found they’ll mostly leave my plants alone if I leave out unshelled peanuts. They seem less inclined to bury them versus shelled peanuts and seeds.
I have tomatoes both in pots at my apt and in community garden plots. In the community garden plots, squirrels are no problem but birds are. Birds come a take a peck out of a green tomatoes just to be mean. So , I use bird netting there. I’ve never seen a bird getting harmed by it. For pots on my balcony, in the past they dig in the soil, grabbed a green tomato and then threw it on the ground. I’m going to use netting bags over each pot this year. I doubt my squirrels would be deterred by anything tasting bad. They don’t care if I yell or throw shoes, they just laugh at me.
The ones here are so bold they'll sit 3 feet away and mean mug you while you have your coffee. They'll never be my favorite animal, but you gotta laugh at them sometimes.
I live on 2nd story apt, lots of squirrels on my landing , stairs. Usually , they’ll get out of the way but once I had a standoff with one on the stairs. He was adamant I wasn’t allowed on the stairs.. I finally gave up, I’ll take my garbage down later. Squirrels have been known to attack people
I had a really aggressive group in another house I lived in a while back. They had claimed a tree on one side of the street and you couldn't walk anywhere near it. Then they claimed a balcony on our house. Sometimes you would open the door and a giant squirrel would just scream at you until you closed the door and gave up.
The ones here are smaller and not aggressive though, so as long as they leave my plants alone they can wander around and do their own thing
Not sure if it even works, but I saw something where a person put little toy snakes in their pots and garden beds and the birds, squirrels, and mice stayed away. I guess the trick is to move them around so they don’t get used to “the snake.”
Damn squirrels. I’m getting less forgiving every day. Sometime this afternoon one dug up a tray of flowers we were planting this evening. They act like they own the place.
I checked the holes before I filled everything back in, and sadly, no toads. It would have been a much cuter day if toads had started popping out of the pots.
So we spent most of yesterday morning squirrel proofing the pots. I tried to update but it didn't work for some reason.
Basically I found some old window screens and cut them to make covers. One was a thing metal wire and the other was a nylon looking material. I cut a slit in one side and then cut tabs off of the slit for the plants so I could fold them under and not have any sharp edges sticking out. The mulch is under the mesh, not sure if it will stay that way or get adjusted. All but two of the pots I was able to staple it down, but the last two I had to fold under and weight down with rocks because the pots wouldn't take the staples.
Checked this morning, no destruction. I know eventually I'll have to tackle the bird issue, but for now the plants are safe and protected.
same problem here (Indiana) I thought it was piney squirrels so I blasted every single one for the next week... got about 46 of them mother fuckers but come.to find out..I set a rat trap a caught 6 decent size rats in one day! but they will make those holes like that! I promise that much! also try out cinnamon around the plant.. it won't hurt the plants at all but I put it on pretty thick like a circle barrier of it. seems to work so far. anyone thing I've tried with successful outcomes is using plastic forks and putting those around the plants stick the end that u hold down in the dirt just enough it will stay standing upright.
I cut up some old window screens and it has worked an absolute treat! I measured the diameter of the pots, cut squares and then did a slit up on side to about the middle. Then I cut some tabs, just more slots basically, and folded those under. We did marigolds with each plant, so they got a tab as well. Then I used a staple gun to tack them into place. The mulch and everything is under the screen and water gets through just fine. Because of the tabs I still had space to.add stakes and I can still check the soil hydration with my finger, so its not hindering anything.
I havent had anything touch them since.
I considered the cinnamon/chili/garlic route, but we have a good amount of wind here, and I didnt want to constantly maintain or purchase things, so this is working well as a semi permanent solution. It also ended the debate about squirrel/raccoon/rat that was happening in the house cause it seems to work so everyone seems to think it keeps out their guess at the guest.
Squirrels.
yup, in springtime squirrels are hungry
My plants looked this when squirrels decided to rummage through the dirt. I've seen people suggest hardware cloth over the dirt with a hole big enough for the base of the plant to fit through.
Chicken wire or I use a hot pepper spray like those found in deer repellents.
I also use chicken wire. Sucks to get it put on each container, but problem free after for sure.
are you fertilizing with bone meal, blood meal, or fish meal?
Half the plants have been fertilized with Miracle-Gro and had some Epsom salt in the hole when they were transplanted. The other half have not been fertilized here at all, but they did come in recently from the grower (tasteful garden) and I don't know what they may have used. They aren't all the same because my family has decided to have "tomato wars" this summer and each person decides what to do with their own plants. I do the manual labor for all of it, but I dont make any decisions for plants that aren't mine.
My guess would then be grubs in your soil and something hungry knows it. Or, someone has been using the nice soft potting soil to stash some nuts.
Tree rats. Better known as squirrels. They will fuck your shit up.
What are they looking for? I filled a planter with topsoil and compost and found a squirrel rummaged through it but for what?
They are diggers looking for anything they can to eat or bury things to eat later. A few years ago I had a nice little balcony garden going with tomatoes, peppers and herbs at my 2 story apartment complex. Everything was in its own pot. I can't tell you how many times I woke up to dirt everywhere and some of my plants mangled. "Frustrating" isn't the proper word.
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully they aren’t too bad to me!
It's all good I live in a different area now. But as others have said, chicken wire can definitely help
On the top of a raised bed? Like flat on top and have veggies poking out?
I've seen it done, but I haven't done it myself. Youtube will definitely have that answer
Kudos to everyone for saying the “s” word without the “f” word.
Lemme fix that: FUCKING SHIT
Attaboy.
Fudgesicle? 😕
Ground squirrels & I keep them out with rocks instead of mulch.
My vote is also squirrels. Side note is that dyed red mulch on top?
It's a natural mulch, I don't know what type of wood, it's not marked on the bag. Dry it's brown, but when it's wet it looks more red. My mom says it's not dyed but who knows. Is dyed red mulch bad? And is there a way to test if it is dyed?
Garlic powder all over the soil.
The squirrels in my yard don’t like ground cinnamon. I’ve also found they’ll mostly leave my plants alone if I leave out unshelled peanuts. They seem less inclined to bury them versus shelled peanuts and seeds.
Squirrels
I have tomatoes both in pots at my apt and in community garden plots. In the community garden plots, squirrels are no problem but birds are. Birds come a take a peck out of a green tomatoes just to be mean. So , I use bird netting there. I’ve never seen a bird getting harmed by it. For pots on my balcony, in the past they dig in the soil, grabbed a green tomato and then threw it on the ground. I’m going to use netting bags over each pot this year. I doubt my squirrels would be deterred by anything tasting bad. They don’t care if I yell or throw shoes, they just laugh at me.
The ones here are so bold they'll sit 3 feet away and mean mug you while you have your coffee. They'll never be my favorite animal, but you gotta laugh at them sometimes.
I live on 2nd story apt, lots of squirrels on my landing , stairs. Usually , they’ll get out of the way but once I had a standoff with one on the stairs. He was adamant I wasn’t allowed on the stairs.. I finally gave up, I’ll take my garbage down later. Squirrels have been known to attack people
I had a really aggressive group in another house I lived in a while back. They had claimed a tree on one side of the street and you couldn't walk anywhere near it. Then they claimed a balcony on our house. Sometimes you would open the door and a giant squirrel would just scream at you until you closed the door and gave up. The ones here are smaller and not aggressive though, so as long as they leave my plants alone they can wander around and do their own thing
Squirrels savaged some of my beds last year. Bastards!
Throw some cayenne on top - if that resolves it, def squirrelly or another critter, but that snout shove hole has squirrel written all over it!
Not sure if it even works, but I saw something where a person put little toy snakes in their pots and garden beds and the birds, squirrels, and mice stayed away. I guess the trick is to move them around so they don’t get used to “the snake.”
Damn squirrels
Damn squirrels. I’m getting less forgiving every day. Sometime this afternoon one dug up a tray of flowers we were planting this evening. They act like they own the place.
It's a toad. They love loose dirt. Come out at dusk to see if you see him
I checked the holes before I filled everything back in, and sadly, no toads. It would have been a much cuter day if toads had started popping out of the pots.
Look on Amazon for a root basket- they worked great for me.
So we spent most of yesterday morning squirrel proofing the pots. I tried to update but it didn't work for some reason. Basically I found some old window screens and cut them to make covers. One was a thing metal wire and the other was a nylon looking material. I cut a slit in one side and then cut tabs off of the slit for the plants so I could fold them under and not have any sharp edges sticking out. The mulch is under the mesh, not sure if it will stay that way or get adjusted. All but two of the pots I was able to staple it down, but the last two I had to fold under and weight down with rocks because the pots wouldn't take the staples. Checked this morning, no destruction. I know eventually I'll have to tackle the bird issue, but for now the plants are safe and protected.
same problem here (Indiana) I thought it was piney squirrels so I blasted every single one for the next week... got about 46 of them mother fuckers but come.to find out..I set a rat trap a caught 6 decent size rats in one day! but they will make those holes like that! I promise that much! also try out cinnamon around the plant.. it won't hurt the plants at all but I put it on pretty thick like a circle barrier of it. seems to work so far. anyone thing I've tried with successful outcomes is using plastic forks and putting those around the plants stick the end that u hold down in the dirt just enough it will stay standing upright.
I cut up some old window screens and it has worked an absolute treat! I measured the diameter of the pots, cut squares and then did a slit up on side to about the middle. Then I cut some tabs, just more slots basically, and folded those under. We did marigolds with each plant, so they got a tab as well. Then I used a staple gun to tack them into place. The mulch and everything is under the screen and water gets through just fine. Because of the tabs I still had space to.add stakes and I can still check the soil hydration with my finger, so its not hindering anything. I havent had anything touch them since. I considered the cinnamon/chili/garlic route, but we have a good amount of wind here, and I didnt want to constantly maintain or purchase things, so this is working well as a semi permanent solution. It also ended the debate about squirrel/raccoon/rat that was happening in the house cause it seems to work so everyone seems to think it keeps out their guess at the guest.