Critters in my garden already!

Okay, this morning I went out and saw the local squirrel population digging in my yard, so I immediately looked over to see if they'd been in my garden. Oddly enough, I saw a hole dug into the square where I planted my Garlic Chives seed! That was not where I expected them to dig, but they hadn't tried anywhere else. Does this mean I need to build one of those chicken wire contraptions to keep them away from my seeds & plants?



Also, I found that one leaf had been nibbled off of my hot pepper plant. My other (sweet) pepper and my tomatoes haven't been touched, so I'm wondering why only one leaf off one plant? We only have a couple deer in the neighborhood, and one fox. The alligators never come up the hill from the lake, the turtles could never climb 7" to get into the box and the local lizards wouldn't eat a plant, so I'm inclined to blame the squirrels, though I'm skeptical about that...but if they'll dig in my Garlic Chives square in the other box, why not a pepper leaf? Here's a photo of the nibbled nub; any input?

I just saw that my photo is sideways, but if you look on what is the lower right side of the plant, you'll find the nub where a leaf used to be. If you need me to, I'll try to get a better photo. LMK

Try giving the whole garden a hefty coating of cayenne pepper I use it to
keep the cats out I also use, used Coffee grounds I don't know if the grounds
will work for squirrels.

Can I spray the soil with Cayenne pepper spray? Will that interfere with germination of my seeds?

I'll definitely put some on the plants.

Critter covers and hardware cloth bottoms are the only way I can have a garden. I don't lose anything to the "locals" who don't mind taking it all...the covers keep my barn cats and their friends from using mel's mix as litter boxes. This way all I contend with basically are some bugs. One day I'll fence it all in when I decide to stop adding boxes.

Michelle I don't put it on the plants just on the soil an I use powder not liquid.

@Hoggar, this keeps the squirrels away?!?

I just started having this problem as well....it is driving me crazy

will this also help with chipmunks?

Heads up on coffee grounds.

Free for the asking from your coffee shop. Smaller locations are more accomodating!.

Barely alkaline pH, even though the web tells you they are acidic (I tested several batches from various stores and days...mostly espresso, some regular grind).

Sprinkle lightly and work in a bit, else they will form a crust that is water resistant!

Haven't tried it for weed control, but would probably do great for an area you are leaving unplanted!

If you like the smell of coffee, it makes your garden smell grand!

Ava

"YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!"

Lol. My all time favorite

RoOsTeR wrote:Lol. My all time favorite

For some reason, I didn't get to watch it this past year. It's the first time I missed it.

AvaDGardner wrote:Heads up on coffee grounds.

Free for the asking from your coffee shop. Smaller locations are more accomodating!.

Barely alkaline pH, even though the web tells you they are acidic (I tested several batches from various stores and days...mostly espresso, some regular grind).

Sprinkle lightly and work in a bit, else they will form a crust that is water resistant!

Haven't tried it for weed control, but would probably do great for an area you are leaving unplanted!

If you like the smell of coffee, it makes your garden smell grand!

Ava

So you are saying keep away from the "Bucks" and go to smaller shops like Duncan Donuts, etc?

floyd1440 wrote:

AvaDGardner wrote:Heads up on coffee grounds.

Free for the asking from your coffee shop. Smaller locations are more accomodating!.

Barely alkaline pH, even though the web tells you they are acidic (I tested several batches from various stores and days...mostly espresso, some regular grind).

Sprinkle lightly and work in a bit, else they will form a crust that is water resistant!

Haven't tried it for weed control, but would probably do great for an area you are leaving unplanted!

If you like the smell of coffee, it makes your garden smell grand!

Ava

So you are saying keep away from the "Bucks" and go to smaller shops like Duncan Donuts, etc?

Starbucks has always been more than willing to give out free used coffee grounds. They're very big on that.

I don't know about squirrels & chipmunks as far as I can tell we only have one
squirrel in our neighborhood but it never touched our garden. so I guess it works
on squirrel.

OK, a gun isn't an option with ADHD & Autism in the house (they won't understand and *definitely* won't like the noise!) and neigbors who'll not take kindly to it.

Coffee grounds I can definitely do; I drink iced coffee 9 months, hot coffee 3 months of the year, every day, multiple 16oz cups a day (my own proprietary blend of mostly decaf with a touch of caffeine to keep me awake but not jittery). Coffee is a major part of my culture. I grew up with Sbux in Seattle, though other than my coffee habit, you'd never know I grew up in the PNW...I moved away 22 years ago. Anyway, I can't put it in the soil yet since I am waiting on the seedlings to sprout...

Which for the time being leaves me with pepper...powder? Fill me in on this, please. Do I just grab my husband's beloved bottle of Cayenne out of the spice cabinet & sprinkle away, or must I visit the home improvement store yet again?

Hoggar wrote:I don't know about squirrels & chipmunks as far as I can tell we only have one
squirrel in our neighborhood but it never touched our garden. so I guess it works
on squirrel.

Seriously?!?! ONE?!?! Despite the hawks, falcons, foxes, and alligators, we probably have a million in our neighborhood alone. They're a major nuisance. They even cause power outages! A joke in our house when the power flickers on a clear day is that we need to go find the squirrel who did it. Or, we might simply say, "Southern Fried Squirrel."

givvmistamps wrote:Which for the time being leaves me with pepper...powder? Fill me in on this, please. Do I just grab my husband's beloved bottle of Cayenne out of the spice cabinet & sprinkle away, or must I visit the home improvement store yet again?

Good old Cayenne powder works well. I got one of those big cheap bottles at the dollar store. You can also make a garlic & hot pepper spray. These 2 things have taken care of every pest in my garden so far except the grasshoppers. Wish I could have seen the bunny when it discovered the Cayenne!

GG

I saw another squirrel near my box a little while ago, so reached into the spice cabinet and grabbed the first thing I could find...crushed red pepper...and went out to do some sprinkling. I will get a cheap bottle of pepper powder soon, since my husband would have a fit if I used up his favorite cayenne powder, but hopefully this will do the job in a pinch for the time being.

floyd1440 wrote:

AvaDGardner wrote:Heads up on coffee grounds.

Free for the asking from your coffee shop. Smaller locations are more accommodating!

Ava

So you are saying keep away from the "Bucks" and go to smaller shops like Duncan Donuts, etc?

NO...Big GotchYourBucks can be less friendly about giving you the grounds, or have more people asking for them so they don't have much to give.

I've found their small stores will save them for me all day, put them in the back so I can pick them up at night, etc. The mini stores in grocery stores are also very helpful.

I miss Dunkin' Donuts. I loved their glazed choc cake donuts! They don't have one near me.

Last year the oaks near my SFG had a bumper crop of acorns; there were thousands of the nuts everywhere (had to be careful walking around because they would get to rolling like marbles underfoot, and down I would go!). Anyway, the squirrels had a field day with the nuts, feasting and storing. This year, I have acorn seedlings coming up all over the yard where the squirrels buried their bounty for winter, and when I first turned my SFG, I pulled up lots of acorns (many sprouting) that the squirrels had also buried there. For the first few weeks after planting, I kept finding holes dug in the bed by squirrels looking for their missing buried treasure. They've finally given up, however, so no further garden troubles with squirrels.

1airdoc wrote:Last year the oaks near my SFG had a bumper crop of acorns; there were thousands of the nuts everywhere (had to be careful walking around because they would get to rolling like marbles underfoot, and down I would go!). Anyway, the squirrels had a field day with the nuts, feasting and storing. This year, I have acorn seedlings coming up all over the yard where the squirrels buried their bounty for winter, and when I first turned my SFG, I pulled up lots of acorns (many sprouting) that the squirrels had also buried there. For the first few weeks after planting, I kept finding holes dug in the bed by squirrels looking for their missing buried treasure. They've finally given up, however, so no further garden troubles with squirrels.

The odd thing is, we just set up the SFG a week ago, so the squirrels couldn't have buried anything in my garden.

I am also using tulle as a barrier now; that might be a way to keep the squirrels away.

1airdoc wrote:I am also using tulle as a barrier now; that might be a way to keep the squirrels away.

I have a whole bunch of that mesh fabric stuff people cut in squares to make rice packets for weddings...or whatever it is they're using in place of rice now that we know that's not good for the birds...maybe I'll put together a barrier if the powdered pepper doesn't work. So far, those squirrels haven't made any more holes, so it looks like hot pepper is the quick & easy way.

The odd thing is, we just set up the SFG a week ago, so the squirrels couldn't have buried anything in my garden.[/quote]

Maybe they buried their treasure underneath your box?

Remember Scrat's determination in Ice Age?