To keep birds away from tomatoes, consider using reflective tape or ribbon on the plants, creating a sacrificial bird garden, building cages, using bird netting, and building a high tunnel. Birds tend to target tomato plants during the fruiting stage, as they provide food and water for birds. Caging tomatoes is an effective approach, and plastic netting is a proven method for protecting plants without causing harm to birds.
Building support structures for the netting before using it can help prevent snagging on plants and damaging branches. For example, “cubes” or square box cages made of wood frames covered with metal chicken wire can be used to protect tomato plants. Fruit Protection Bags made of fin nylon mesh can also be used to tie around the fruit before it is harvested.
Plastic nets can be used as a defense against birds, draped in a tent over affected garden beds. Screens can be used to create a bird-free vegetable garden by cutting hoola hoops, arranging fabric, and clipping them with binder clips.
Birds love cherry tomatoes and peas, so some gardeners suggest creating a web of fishing line or reflective tape over and around the plants. By following these tips, you can create a bird-free vegetable garden that is free from pests and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
📹 How to Protetct Your Tomatoes from BIRD Damage || Black Gumbo
Bird damage in the garden is a frustrating experience. In this video, I will show you how I keep the birds out of my tomatoes and …
📹 How to Stop Birds From Pecking Holes in Your Tomatoes: And Other Bird Benefits & Tips
Birds typically peck tomatoes because they are thirsty. This is how you can solve that problem. Plus some tips on stopping birds …
The bird bath works most of the time, it helps to place it in a clump of bushes…the birds prefer the cover and the shaded water is cooler than in the blazing sun. You can discourage them and frustrate them with red plastic Christmas ornaments hung early on the tomato plants. A few times pecking on the plastic discourages them from trying the real ones as they ripen later.
Scott, I have learned to keep old newspapers sheets to place over and around the ripe’n tomatoes. I very seldom get a bird peck unless a strong wind blows the papers off. Rain does not bother the papers, because by the time they deteriorate, the tomatoes are ready to pick. Cheap and easy to apply. I live in South Louisiana.
It’s so ironic lol. I JUST purchased 2 different sizes of these same bags off Amazon to use to the same purpose and also to make a “sling” for mini melons so they wouldn’t fall off the vine. Glad to see I was on the right track! Tulle is also useful to keep birds and cabbage moths out and is cheaper and it doesn’t trap the birds like bird netting can sometimes do.
I have a big fig tree and if I didn’t get up at 6 am to pick the fruit the mockingbirds pecked every ripe fig. Last year I had a 10′ x 10′ x 8′ frame built around the tree and put that green bird netting on it. Well, both the squirrels and the mockingbirds just bit through the net to get to the figs. After a week of going outside, opening the door and chasing the birds out and then locating and repairing the holes I just had chicken wire put on the frame. Now they better have wire cutters to get to the figs. Yes, my tomatoes also suffer. This year I have 4 bird baths; one has a solar fountain in it. Hopefully, the sound of the water will attract the birds. I’ll also order some organza bags. I’m in the Houston area, too.
I’m one that believes in the bird bath. I’ve got two. I’ve never had a bird peck at any of my fruits and I have a pair of mocking birds and pair of cardinals that claimed my yard as their territory and run off any others of their kind. I have bird feeders too. I also rarely have a caterpillar or worm problem because those birds and other kinds of birds will snatch them up in a heartbeat. Now if I could only get birds to eat aphids and slugs. I have use the bird netting to cover my 4X8 raised beds, especially in the winter when the squirrels are going nuts burying and looking for acorns. Winter crops don’t need pollinators, so it’s no big deal to keep a netting over them all the time.
Thanks Scott. Usually I bring in tomatoes with even a faint trace of color to ripen on the table. I’ll try the organza bags this year. It makes me crazy that birds just peck once or twice to drain the liquid and then move to the next one. Squirrels also eat a couple of bites and move to the next fruit. The water idea should work, but I haven’t had much luck with it. You can hear the critters laughing when you try to outsmart them.
When I lived in upstate NY, we had a groundhog who would eat just the bottoms of tomatoes. I suppose that was his height when standing up. He also mowed down lettuce and broccoli seedlings to nothing. A man who wrote for the Farmer’s Almanac was on TV and said to place chewing gum around plants to fix the problem. Supposedly, they’d eat it and get sick and go away. I went out and bought a bunch of multi-packs of gum and put it everywhere. Didn’t work. The gum was gone, and nothing changed. I had an idea that if he was full before getting in, maybe he’d leave my stuff alone, so we regularly put kitchen scraps and overripe produce outside the fence where he came in. It actually worked 🙂
Thank you so much. Don’t lose the green striped shirt. Very flattering. I think the birds peck the tomatoes because they want tomatoes. I’ve had watering bowls out for years with clean fresh water and although they do patronize those, they love the tomatoes. The silk organza bags are a great idea. I use the netting too. I used to use egg cartons cut to fit and small styrofoam to go boxes that I would put around the tomatoes with a rubber band to hold them in place but those are more difficult because they leave open areas plus I’ve noticed the tomatoes need the light to ripen better. Thanks for all the tips.
I have an airsoft pistol that shoots little plastic BBs. I’ve scared hawks and other birds away. It doesn’t hurt them, just makes em mad. I’ve also scared away a few skunks when I lived up in Utah. Non-lethal method but you have to be there when the crime goes down. The green netting sounds better. Another great article, Thanks!
Big Thumbs Up, that was interesting. When we have a problem, it is with crows and cow birds. They will rip the corn seeds out of the ground or pull the newly germinated plants. That is hard on a small gardener that only grows a small amount. I can remember seeing many a small garden as a kid with pie plates strung on strings as we past by country homes. Take care!
What type of tomatoes are those? Would love to grow some cherry toms like that. I had my first ripe tomato that I was going to pick the next day and went out there to pick it and there was a big hole in it..so sad..this is my first year growing some vegetables. That bird netting is great idea. I have a challenge though of having all my toms in grow bags..dwarf type. I have to move my bags 3 times a day to follow what little sun I have in my back yard. I will have to see if the netting will be able to go with the bags. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Thank you for this article! I have a fox problem (yes, really, northern VA 7B), and also many squirrels and birds too. Last year I lost most of my vegetables and marigolds to the fox. This year, I made a “fence” around everything planted in my raised beds using 3′ cut bird nets, 4′ tomato stakes and ground staples. But I was worried about the birds with my ripening tomatoes (as you can see, we have a ton of pest pressure here, and that is not even counting bugs/caterpillars/slugs/diseases. Plus it is illegal to trap and release animals in VA). Will be ordering these bags for sure after seeing this article! Thank you. 🙂
They make huge bags exactly the same as the small bags that will cover your whole plant. I cover my strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, and sometimes my herbs. They keep squirrels and rats out too. Sometimes they will chew through the net so you might need to put 2 or 3 bags on your fruit bunches. If I didn’t have these net bags, I wouldn’t have any fruit to eat.
i have a problem with rats eating my tomatoes when they begin to ripen…so heartbreaking all the pests and disease you need to fight off just to enjoy the fruits of your labor… anyway, i put baggies over my tomatoes as well and it does seem to deter them. do you leave the bag on the whole time until picking time, or remove it each day to allow air flow. thanks for the article and great ideas.
I’m another proponent of bird baths. I’ve had a bird bath with a solar pump and never had an issue with birds eating any of my fruit. In fact they help quite a bit by eating bugs off the plants. If the birds don’t use your bath there’s probably something wrong with it… It may be too deep, (try putting some rocks in it) or in a spot they don’t feel safe (they like them near a bush or shrub they can escape to if they feel threatened).
Thank you for this article! Some creature keeps taking big bites out of my tomatoes while they’re still green. Hopefully the organza bags will keep them out. Update: The creature BIT THROUGH THE BAGS TO GET THE TOMATOES!! Argh!!! I don’t think this is a bird and we don’t have deer in our area. Must be a rabbit or a rodent.
There’s a netting they sell at tractor supply, larger and more steady than bird netting, I’m using it for fence. The animals hate it, even the chickens got tangled up and are staying away from it. I wonder if a squirrel would tare st the bag to get to my yummy loquats. I only got one last year and this year they left me none.
You are absolutely right about the birds….gardening 60 year and my dad taught me to bring in the birds and I have no pest in my garden…my dad always set tin pie plates of water around…he said the birds don’t want my tomatoes they are just thirsty after all the bugs they get from the garden…lol…having a food forest around my house…2 city lots on Main street…I have 4 feeding stations and 4 solar fountains set up as well as several hummingbird feeders…the only thing I have ever been troubled by is the white moth with the brasicas…I don’t think the birds can get up under the leaves…so I cover them with white tulle and that works fairly well…I’m organic as well as vegan so my garden is my sanctuary…lol…love you articles Gary…so much info…stay safe and your gardens are remarkable…Cara in Indiana
Hi Gary, your advice works well. I added a water source low to the ground, outside of my garden area. Some birds, chipmunks, squirrls, rabbits, snakes, wild turkey, and yes deer drink from it. Not to mention my dog and cat..lol. I also put out dried egg shells in little piles in both ends of my garden, as well as near the compost heap. Birds come in that need extra calcium during egg laying and raising chicks. Even the turkeys like them, canapy birds like Greater Crested Flycatcher, Rosebreasted Grossbeaks, Scarlet Tanegers, etc come in. Thankyou for sharing your beautiful gardens and advice with everyone. God bless.
I started using this super-low-cost bird feeder/attractor this year: I place a doormat in a grassy area near my garden and I pour 4 piles of wild birdseed (just a couple of handfuls). When they finish eating it, usually about 48 hours… I flip over the mat, tossing any remaining seeds nearby. Then I lay the mat in a spot a couple of feet over- the original spot has now yellowed and there’s a whole town of worms and bugs wiggling like mad. I step inside quickly and the birds “go to town” gobbling up all the critters. Then later that day I’ll repeat the process with some more seeds.
Hey Gary, just curious. Why do people say that stuff like peat moss and potting mix don’t have any nutritional benefits from your plants? Calcium is in the cell structure of plants, so wouldn’t it at least be adding calcium in some amount? What about the other minerals and stuff? I would expect peat moss and potting mix to contain some, especially if the potting mix is woody.