I had three huge almost ready to pick toms the other day and decided yesterday to pick them. They weren't there! I thought they fell on the ground from the rain, but no. They were neatly picked off the vine. I'm embarrassed to admit that the first thought I had was maybe a two legged predator (neighbor, don't know them well, just moved in, doing lots of work on their house and - their windows look down on my tomatoes ) So I locked my gate. Well, this morning another almost ready tom was taken. But this time the vine must have been pulled down to get that one What could it be?? It happens at night and there is no evidence left behind that I can see. The tomatoes are in black "grow bags" in my graveled garden is a corner and my yard is surrounded by 6 ft cedar fencing. So frustrating!! Any ideas?
If you have chickens then it could very lickely be them eating them. They will pick apart and eat the whole tomato, leaving no evidence. funny signature.
Nope. Not the chickens. it's gotta be a creature that comes out at night and likes tomatoes, but can't reach the top ones. and can pick a tomato like you & I would.
If you had pigs like me, i'd say pigs. Same thing just happend here... huge tomatoes ready to eat, and i saw my pigs actually put their front feet on the tomato "box" and reach up and pull down the tomatoes.... I scolded them, went inside. They must have gotten mad because they couldnt reach the other tomatoes, and i come out to find the tomato box all broken and the plants strewn around and all the tomatoes gone. They were all proud of themselves... Maybe a racoon?? Do you have a little camera you could set up?
Neighbors. One of my co-workers was losing ALOT of grape tomatoes so she netted the plants and PADLOCKED the net around the base. It worked.
Believe me, neighbors steal. This year I lost several coronation sussex and lavender orpingtons to my neighbors. I found a spot where their foot had made a worn spot at the corner of the property just where they would have to hop over the fence. Boom. Eight lav orps nearing point of lay, and some coronation sussex, both genders. They were not choosing "designer" birds, just the biggest ones. I know which neighbors, but I can't prove it. I stood by their fence jumping spot and stared at them for about a half hour... the next day they pounded a couple pieces of metal coduit into the ground and tied some cardboard and a blanket to it to block me off! LOL. None have gone missing since. The sickening thing is, I give away a LOT of roosters, usually every month. If they would just ask, I would be HAPPY to drop them over the fence rather than drive twenty minutes each way to unload them. So yes, your neighbors may be helping themselves to your tomatoes. Just pick them when they start to blush, and put them in the kitchen window. They will ripen just fine and taste great. Sorry you are getting ripped, whatever it is. Another thing you can do is sprinkle flour and see what kind of footprints get left.
opossums.. they LOVE tomatoes... when I had rescue babies two of their favorite foods were raw eggs and tomatoes
Possums, and, if you can believe it, squirrels and chipmunks. Tomatoes are too big for a chipmunk to eat, though, so they usually only eat about half and leave the rest still on the vine. I keep finding half eaten tomatoes in my driveway. The only thing I can figure is the stupid squirrels that live in the oak tree above me driveway steal it from the neighbors yard (I didn't grow tomatoes this year) and then drop it from the tree. I really can't figure out how else they get here, unless her little boy is throwing them over the fence. Definitely a possibility! lol
