9 Ways to Keep Deer From Eating Your Tomato Plants?

You are currently viewing 9 Ways to Keep Deer From Eating Your Tomato Plants?

If you live in the woodlands and have grown tomatoes in your garden, chances are deer had eaten them for a nighttime snack before you got the opportunity to have one for yourself.

They also cause so much damage to the garden. Let’s plow right through the different suggestions to deter a deer from devouring your hard-earned tomatoes.

The best ways to keep a deer from eating your tomato plants are as follows: You can choose to build an individual fence with deer or bird netting around your tomato plant or crop.

Also, you can buy a deer repellant spray from hardware or gardening stores. Consistently applying deer repellent spray keeps deer away. Read on to learn more about these solutions.

Do deer eat tomato plants?

The short answer to this? Yes!Deer love munching on your tomatoes that are almost ready to be plucked.

Thus, you must fortify your garden to protect them and deter deer from snacking on them.

They love to come to your garden at night when you’re sound asleep for some late-night dine-in experience that damages your vegetable patch.

Are tomatoes deer resistant?

Tomatoes are not part of the deer-resistant plant list. It is a deer’s favorite snack food, which is why they need to be protected. With this in mind, I have included 9 gardening strategies you can employ to keep a deer from eating your tomato plants.

A gardener has a kinship to scientists who experiment on different things and observe what works and what doesn’t. This is why I have listed different ways to keep a deer from eating your tomato plants. You may need to tweak them to find what works for you. Maybe you need to combine a few of these tactics to find out what best suits you.

1. Keep deer-resistant plants as companion plants for your tomatoes

This must be your first line of defense. Select a plant that has the following characteristics:

  • Plants with fuzzy or hairy leaves

Deer don’t like these leaf textures that are soft and bristly on their tongue.

Hence, this is a great plant choice for your garden a companion plants for tomatoes. Some examples of these are heliotrope, tuberous begonia, poppies, and the like.

  • Plants with prickly leaves

They avoid these types of plants because of the leaf texture.

The eating experience can be likened to eating sandpaper for humans. Some examples of these plants are globe thistle, sea hollies, and the like.

  • Plants with aromatic foliage

Plants with heavy fragrance repel deer because it confuses their sense of smell and discourages them from eating it. There are aromatic herbs like sage, thyme, lavender, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. These are great companion plants for tomatoes.

2. Build a fence around your vegetable garden

A stockade deer fence is better than see-through when building one to keep the deer out of your gardens.

Deer are not most likely to jump over a wall when they couldn’t see what’s on the other side of it. Although this may feel more like you have fenced yourself in than the deer out.

Electric fences are also efficient in keeping the deer out. Check with your local zoning laws because some municipalities forbid it. If you are building an electric fence, it must be taller than 8 feet because deer are excellent jumpers.

Other precautions you might consider are if you have pets, chickens, or children. If you have them, this may not be advisable. Electric fences must be well-maintained. Make sure to keep plants and weeds out of them.

Some implement double fences. Deer don’t like to jump into enclosed spaces because they feel trapped. This can be an effective way to deter deer from the garden.

Fencing your tomato plants can also be an option. You can keep a layer of deer or bird netting over them at all times.

3. Use a deer repellant spray

Purchase a deer repellent spray in gardening stores or hardware.

For deer repellants to remain effective on your tomato plants, you must apply them dutifully. Using it weekly and setting a reminder on your cellphone are the best pieces of advice I can give you.

Find a deer deterrent with spreader and sticker additive because it lasts longer and you don’t need to reapply like regular ones. You can use it during the winter months or when deer browse is at its worst.

4. Use homemade deer repellant sprays

Deer repellents are effective because they have a combination of odor and taste deterrents.

Deer deterrents are most often made from putrified eggs, dried blood, garlic, and soaps.

Egg-based products are the most effective. While soap-based are the least likely to deter deer from eating your tomatoes because they get used to the smell of soap.

If you want to make your homemade deer repellant, here is a recipe for you.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tablespoons hot sauce
  • 3 Raw eggs
  • 1 Gallon of water
  • 3 Tablespoons of minced garlic

Instructions:

In a blender, combine all the first 3 ingredients. Dilute it with a half cup of water to lessen the solution’s thickness. Add this to 1 gallon of water. Transfer to a spray bottle and spray them to your tomato plants

5. Get ultrasonic products

Acquire ultrasonic products because they are effective deer deterrents and keep other animals away. This product works by emitting a high-frequency sound that animals can only hear with a heightened sense of hearing. This will irritate and keep them away.

6. Lay fencing wire on the ground

Deer don’t like stepping on these wires and the feel of it under their hooves.

You can choose to lay this around your garden and keep it flat on the ground. Again, think of some precautionary steps if you have pets, chicken, or children, as this may not be advisable for them.

7. Use spent coffee grounds

Spent coffee grounds stored up in a plastic bag for a week can be used as a deer deterrent because of their solid bitter scent.

Just make sure you properly seal your plastic bags so that molds will not develop.

After a week, spread them near your tomato plants and observe how long they can repel deer. They might be acclimated to it in the long run, or the pungent aroma of coffee may be washed by rain, so you might want to reapply after a week or use another deer repellent.

8. Use butterfly bush

Butterfly bush has an aroma that repels deer.

Use this as a stake for your tomato plants. The lighter branches of the butterfly bush can serve as a protective cover when placed on top of the tomato plant.

9. Installing motion-activated sprinklers near your tomato plants

Motion-activated sprinklers shoot out a sharp burst of water towards the source of movement.

This is an effective way to scare the deer away from your tomato plants.

Implementing a combination of these strategies is your choice and the best course of action, which protects your tomato plant from a deer. Find out what works for your garden so you can continue to enjoy a fruitful harvest of your tomatoes.

Mike Smith

I love Gardening and this is my site. Here you will find some really useful plant-related tips and tricks.