Deer Deterrent

[MissS]

For those of you experiencing deer pressure, I have found this to be a very good remedy and cheap too.

1 Tablespoon Red Pepper flakes
3-4 garlic cloves mashed
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
Add fresh hot peppers or onions if desired
Place into a gallon milk jug. Fill with hot water and set out in the sun. Best used after 3-5 days of fermenting.
This must be re-applied after every rain unless you add a small amount of Wilt Pruf.

[EdieJ]

Does it work against raccoons?

[MissS]

I think so. I have one living under my deck and it leaves everything alone since I have used this. One word of caution is that if you use it with the Wilt Pruf, you need to wash the veggies well before eating them to get the taste off.

[Shule]

I know I wouldn't want to eat tomato plants if they had cumin on them. It's bitter stuff.

[ponyexpress]

My friend shoots at them with his Henry .22 earlier in the season. Has not seen them back since.

[brownrexx]

I know I wouldn't want to eat tomato plants if they had cumin on them. It's bitter stuff.

The deer never bother my tomato plants but they do like beans, sweet potatoes and corn.

[ponyexpress]

The deer never bother my tomato plants but they do like beans, sweet potatoes and corn.

I don't know if this is something to be encouraged but one community gardener tells me his sweet potatoes story. He protects them (I forget how, maybe row covers?) from the deer during the season. Then when they are ready to be harvested, he unprotects them allowing the deer to eat the foliage.

I've never grown sweet potatoes so I don't know if this a good suggestion.

[MissS]

I know I wouldn't want to eat tomato plants if they had cumin on them. It's bitter stuff.

The deer never bother my tomato plants but they do like beans, sweet potatoes and corn.

The deer here eat the tomatoes, pepper too. Last year I planted 28 of them and only harvested one little Black Cherry tomato. This year I gave my nextdoor neighbor 4 plants. They were all gone the first night that they were planted out. Hoof marks left behind by the culprits.

[brownrexx]

The deer never bother my tomato plants but they do like beans, sweet potatoes and corn.

I don't know if this is something to be encouraged but one community gardener tells me his sweet potatoes story. He protects them (I forget how, maybe row covers?) from the deer during the season. Then when they are ready to be harvested, he unprotects them allowing the deer to eat the foliage.

I've never grown sweet potatoes so I don't know if this a good suggestion.

Probably not a bad idea because I just pull up the vines and the leaves go to waste anyway. Maybe letting the deer eat the leaves shows him where the main plant is for harvesting. Once those vines get going they grow all over the place and you can't even see where they started. This is where the tubers form. I put a stake in where the main plant starts so that I can find it easily later.

I think that I discovered some deer damage this morning but they did not eat anything. I have 5 short rows of corn and the one in the middle is totally knocked over but nothing was eaten. It looks to me like maybe deer ran up the middle of the patch and then turned left and out through the side of the patch. I may get DH to help me prop it back up tonight with stakes and a string beside the row as a support.