Possible rodent problem with fabric pots

J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
I got some fabric pots from the 'zon for next year's outdoor season.
Today I was talking to my buddy and he said not to bother using them as his got ripped apart by squirrels and chipmunks. Apparently they carried chunks of them away to their nests, destroying his plants in the process. Luckily he's an indoor grower so it was just tomatoes and peppers. He lives just around the corner from me, so I have the same squirrels visiting my yard.
Have any of you had this problem? Any solutions other than killing all the little bastards?
 
smokinrav

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
Cats. Not kidding. They're cheap to own, self sufficient other than food and water, and they purr for you and snuggle so nice.
Also, rodents learn where the cats live and will avoid you. Possibly your buddy too.
 
Wizzlebiz

Wizzlebiz

Well-Known Member
dubekoms said:
Get some snakes to kill the squirrels. When the squirrels are killed get a few mongooses to kill the snakes. Mongooses are feisty so you'll want to get a gorilla or two to kill them off. Wait for winter to kill off the gorillas and you're good to go.
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J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
smokinrav said:
Cats. Not kidding. They're cheap to own, self sufficient other than food and water, and they purr for you and snuggle so nice.
Also, rodents learn where the cats live and will avoid you. Possibly your buddy too.
Click to expand...
Well, our kitten isn't up to the job yet, lol. We're trying to get her interested in going outside with us like our last cat, but she hides anytime we try. Our yard is set up so that it's pretty much impossible for her to get out to roam. Our last cat caught chipmunks, mice, voles, and a couple of shrews in our yard alone. And all of those were while we were outside with her. I'm glad she didn't catch the baby bunny though.
 
J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
Wizzlebiz said:
There are squirrels in my yard all the time. Never have they messed with the weed.
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Bastards dig in the pots. Chipmunks too, and they eat new roots. In the pots of the hot peppers too. So far I've been using plastic pots, but I got some fabric ones for the air pruning. My buddy got them a couple months before I did, so he was able to use them this season. Leading to some damaged plants, and a day spent getting them into some plastic ones.
 
J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
GrassBurner said:
Climb a tree and get some baby squirrels. Take them into the sewer, bathe them in some toxic waste, and teach them the ways of the Ninja :blsmoke: Problem solved.
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Call that plan B.
dubekoms said:
Get some snakes to kill the squirrels. When the squirrels are killed get a few mongooses to kill the snakes. Mongooses are feisty so you'll want to get a gorilla or two to kill them off. Wait for winter to kill off the gorillas and you're good to go.
Click to expand...
And plan C.
 
J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
Never liked fabric pots anyways lol. Seems like a simple fix.
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I have had a couple of girls get rootbound in the plastic ones, and making sure they get enough drainage after rainstorms has been an issue. I am limited as to how big the pots can be due to space issues, so going up to 10 gallon plastic pots is just a bit too much. I'll be stretching it a bit with the 7 gallon fabric.
Guess I can sacrifice a Ghost pepper or two from this year's crop, make a spray, and spray the outsides of the pots.
 
Lockedin

Lockedin

Well-Known Member
Spray a solution of cayenne pepper & water around the base of the pots & out on the ground appx. 2ft.

There's also a bitter apple product to prevent dogs chewing their butts - that repels squirrels pretty well too.

Second - take some peanut butter and place it away from your plants. Give them something else to chew and lead them somewhere else.
Hope I don't have to say it - but avoid poison baits at all costs; unintended victims are inevitable:
Cats
Dogs
Birds
Other scavengers

KIDS
 
J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
Lockedin said:
Spray a solution of cayenne pepper & water around the base of the pots & out on the ground appx. 2ft.

There's also a bitter apple product to prevent dogs chewing their butts - that repels squirrels pretty well too.

Second - take some peanut butter and place it away from your plants. Give them something else to chew and lead them somewhere else.
Hope I don't have to say it - but avoid poison baits at all costs; unintended victims are inevitable:
Cats
Dogs
Birds
Other scavengers

KIDS
Click to expand...
I would never use poison baits. The one time anyone on the family used poison was when my dad got some poisoned niger seed in a box called "Super Mouse Treat". My sisters raised a bit of a fuss, so he told them he wouldn't use it, and put it on a shelf unopened.
Turned out that's exactly what he had planned to do in the first place. Leave it in the garage and let the mice find it for themselves. That way only mice coming into the house would find it. We had to pull almost everything out of the garage to get rid of the bodies and the smell. Lesson learned.
My dad burned it in a neighbour's fire pit after that.

There's plenty around here for them to chew on, all the neighbours have bird feeders. I think that's part of the problem, abundant food, so abundant rodents.

Thanks though. I think I'll go with the Ghost pepper spray.
 
Lockedin

Lockedin

Well-Known Member
I did pest elimination for a bit - poisons get quick kills and customers think they won because they found (or smelled) a body.
But poisons are often scented - so THEY ATTRACT MORE of what you don't want.

Just me - but I use repellants indoors and anywhere I want pests ---- repelled!
Once they're out & away from my house I don't care what they do.

In your situation, I'd also use peanut butter or some other non-toxic bait and place it opposite of your grow.
They will naturally gravitate away from the pots, and towards the bait - if you place it near another natural food source, your problem is solved at the cost of some peppers and peanut butter.

If you do end up deciding on elimination (REALLY tough with squirrels, IME), then add UNBAITED mechanical traps to the above.

Other measures include foam / steel wool products, but they'll mess up your hands - I'd avoid these too.
 
J

Jimbo the Gael

Well-Known Member
Lockedin said:
I did pest elimination for a bit - poisons get quick kills and customers think they won because they found (or smelled) a body.
But poisons are often scented - so THEY ATTRACT MORE of what you don't want.

Just me - but I use repellants indoors and anywhere I want pests ---- repelled!
Once they're out & away from my house I don't care what they do.

In your situation, I'd also use peanut butter or some other non-toxic bait and place it opposite of your grow.
They will naturally gravitate away from the pots, and towards the bait - if you place it near another natural food source, your problem is solved at the cost of some peppers and peanut butter.

If you do end up deciding on elimination (REALLY tough with squirrels, IME), then add UNBAITED mechanical traps to the above.

Other measures include foam / steel wool products, but they'll mess up your hands - I'd avoid these too.
Click to expand...
Like I said. No poison. If they get into the house the cat will take care of them.

The problem with the peanut butter is there are already abundant food sources for them around here. Bird feeders everywhere, and berry bushes, and most of my neighbours have veg gardens. They tore apart my buddy's pots and he saw them carting chunks away to their nests in the trees (for the squirrels) and their burrows (for the chipmunks).

I'm not trying to eliminate the bastards, just keep them from ripping apart my stuff. I'll try the Ghost pepper spray. If that doesn't work I'll stick with plastic pots for outdoors and start reviewing costs to see if I can move some back indoors. I love growing outdoors though.

Maybe it'll be like the Christmas lights. They only stole some of those one year. The next year they didn't touch them.
 
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