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mommomsgarden

Missing tomatoes

13 years ago

So I had about 6-7 big green tomatoes on my vine. They are not eaten up, chewed on the side, or on the ground! Theres 3 that are GONE! Has this ever happen to anyone? Where could they have gone??

Comments (22)

  • 13 years ago

    Check your yard. I find pieces or most of an entire tomato around my yard after the critters are done tasting it.

  • 13 years ago

    Critters, kiddos, pets....who knows? Yes. Things like this happen all the time, unfortunately. Always plant a bit more than you think you need....

  • 13 years ago

    But there is NO SIGN of them! They seem to be picked off perfectly

  • 13 years ago

    ....across my lawn....

  • 13 years ago

    JUST ANALYZING:

    Q: How high on the vine it was ? If 2 ft or higher , rule out rabbits.

    Fruit size: A mouse ot rat could not have taken a tomato that size, that far away; Conclusion: Rat is innocent.

    Q:What could climb up and pick that BIG tomato? :
    A: Not rabbit. Either squirrel or rat. But rat could not carry it that far: Rat is innocent again.

    Squirrel, Raccoon ... cou possibly do it.
    If you do not have Raccoons around, the Squirrel is the main suspect, Unless you have seen othe unnamed critters running around in your property, capable of reaching the mater and carrying it so far away and eating good part of it.

    SQUIRREL !! hehe

  • 13 years ago

    Squirrels and deer are the usual culprits in disappearing tomatoes. Repellents help if you rotate through two or three different brands so they don't get used to them, but nothing is 100% preventative except a small mesh wire (rat wire AKA hardware cloth) enclosure anchored in the ground and with a top or a well designed electric fence. Good luck.
    Sandy

  • 13 years ago

    I would not dismiss the possibility of groundhogs.

  • 13 years ago

    Last year I watched a squirrel jump up onto one of my tomato plant containers, gnaw off a branch and then run off with it. The branch had a big fat red tomato on the end of it. Pretty funny at the time, though if I only had a couple of tomatoes that I was waiting to ripen, I wouldn't have though it so amusing.

    Mommom-did you ever move your strawberry plant?

  • 13 years ago

    I did move my strawberry plant! Check out Fruits and orchards forum. I just posted a picture of my transplant
    I think it was a squirrel. We have tons of them. I'm just shocked bc I put a 4 ft mesh fence around it and they still got in btw today and yesterday!!! They don't touch the grape or cherry tomatoes. Only the juicy ones that haven't ripened. I'm so pissed! I have a feeling I won't be tasting ANY juicy tomatoes this year.

  • 13 years ago

    Do you think my strawberries are done? (Transplanted)

  • 13 years ago

    Oh my gosh that so so sad!!! Are you keeping it really moist? If the middle part recovers, you may be OK. That brown stuff it's in, is that a potting mix? It looks different from the soil. just wondering.

  • 13 years ago

    Offtopic strawberry stuff...
    strawberries HATE having their crown buried, and need to be planted pretty shallowly with no soil over the crown.
    And mulch, lots of it.
    They're not called strawberries for nothin ; )

  • 13 years ago

    Do you have a dog/s?

    I was missing a few grape tomatoes but they were ripe and red so I figured a bird or somthing nabbed them. Then a nice sized green Old German about a week from picking dissappeared, I was puzzled.

    Then after sitting outside enjoying mother nature while my dogs were put o ut to do their business, I witnessed Lola snatch anice sized green German off the vine and proceed to nervously devour it. while Boomer happily ate the ripe and green grape tomatoes that had fallen from the vine!

    I fear now that they have had a taste there is no going back.,. :)

    I should have known, you can never rule out a black pug from mischief of ANY sort!

  • 13 years ago

    No dogs. But yeah that's peat moss. I'm on my way home to loosen soil a little and add some mulch!

  • 13 years ago

    It could have been eaten by something like a squirl or racoon, try an all natural spray, either store bought or homeade. I fill a windex bottle with warm water, add a tbspn of hot sause, murphys soap and cayanne pepper, plray it on the fruit.

  • 8 years ago

    something ate my green tomatoes right off the vine. I can't figure what is going on either but, I do wonder if voles could pick the tomatoes off the vine. I once saw a vole as big as a small bunny.

  • 7 years ago

    I only have two better boys and one Roma. Out of ten green tomatoes reaching the 3-4" size, only ONE remains. There go my dreams of canning tomato sauce... How do the cayenne & soap sprays work? Does it hurt the plants/tomatoes?

  • 7 years ago

    How would sprinkling red pepper on the soil around the tomato plants work? Anyone try it?

  • 7 years ago

    Are you finding the chewed up tomatoes? there can be many causes for missing tomatoes and many readers here might get your question confused with the original OP's. You may get better results posting a new question. If it is squirrels that are getting your tomatoes, then cayenne, garlic, soap, and other deterrents all function the same way; they smell bad and taste bad, so hopefully the squirrel goes elsewhere. This works better on country squirrels than it does on city squirrels who are more used to smelly things and less scared of humans. They also have to be changed up every couple weeks so that the squirrels don't get used to them. And sometimes you find a squirrel that just doesn't care and eats them anyway. Putting the deterrents in the dirt is barely useful as most squirrels are brave enough to bypass that in order to get to a tomato. As far as how such things affect your plants, you will be just fine as long as you don't coat the leaves with soap and block up the pores. You will have to thoroughly wash the tomatoes, because you don't want to taste your deterrent in your sauce. Some people have been known to put out a water dish for the squirrels, far away from the tomatoes, as the theory is that the only reason squirrels eat tomatoes is for the moisture content.

  • 7 years ago

    A vole the size of a small bunny? That would be a RAT!


  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I had missing tomatoes (almost ready to pick). I found a few with a bite taken out of them around the yard. After this happened a few years in a row, I got a trail cam.

    It was Bambi! They don't even like tomatoes, but they’ll take them, eat a bite, then leave them in the yard.. Grrr.

    I really believed I’d see a possum or raccoon on video. But no, it was deer.


    The good news is after the first round of destruction, they left the plants alone. Right now I have gobs of cayenne pepper sprinkled on the ground around my plants. We’ll see what happens. They've eaten the leaves and flowers from my cucumbers, peanuts, and potatoes so far (earlier) this year. I am expecting an attack on the tomatoes and peppers. Fingers crossed.