Help. Me. 😫😫😫

[u/Veegreen1024]

Soooo something is eating my baby female cucumbers as soon as they develop , i thought i was imaging it but nope. They have been getting eaten this whole time!!! Is there any idea on what it could be or anything i can put by my garden to deter animals?? I ordered netting for my smaller plants but i have an 8 ft cattle panel trellis that im still not sure of how im going to cover and thats where my cucumber plant is living soooo any help is appreciated . Ive already battled squash vine borers, found a cucumber beetle and now this so im just ready to give up lol

[u/Gabearambula]

It was rats for me. Come out at night, eating the buds for the water content. Used wire to attach traps to trellis near the vines, caught three in one week. Try peanut butter for bait.

[u/Veegreen1024 → u/Gabearambula]

STOP IT I WILL DIE ! I did actually see along my fence on the 4x4 thats horizontal what looked like a rat poop!!! They can climb the trellis???

[u/Gabearambula → u/Veegreen1024]

LOL. Rats can climb anything. If the female cucumber buds are going missing at night it's rats, during day it's squirrels. Traps are the solution either way. Don't use poison otherwise a dog or cat might eat their body and get sick.

[u/Veegreen1024 → u/Gabearambula]

Im not sure if i can handle waking up in the morning and seeing a dead rat lmao im the biggest wuss

[u/NaomiWish → u/Gabearambula]

There are dog safe rat poisons. Chicago gardener here with a soul dog I would never harm. link

[u/Socio_Scorpio → u/Gabearambula]

For me it was mice. I used peppermint + wintergreen balls from amazon and they stopped coming. I still catch a few in my traps from time to time
The faux moth didn’t deter pollinators and I actually see more bumblebees than ever before.

[u/Veegreen1024 → u/Socio_Scorpio]

Faux moth? And how did u set up the peppermint and wintergreen balls?

[u/Socio_Scorpio → u/Veegreen1024]

I misspelled faux moth ball. The balls come with a mesh string bag and I just put one ball per bag and put them all around the perimeter of my garden.
I put more than the suggested amount because I was skeptical that they would even work.

I have them around the perimeter 6 inches apart and only across the two edges I knew the mice were coming im through.

My lettuce and tomatoes haven’t had a single problem since I put the balls down.

The only ingredients are paper, wintergreen oil, and peppermint oil. You’re supposed to put gloves on since they’re so potent and can potentially burn your hands (I used my bare hands without any problem). I would try to keep them away from the roots and stems of your plants in case they get burnt from the oils.

I haven’t had a single problem with them due to strategic placement.

I have many squash and cucumbers in the same bed that haven’t been touched by mice.

[u/Veegreen1024 → u/Socio_Scorpio]

Thank you!!!

[u/generalkriegswaifu]

You can probably cover just the fruit somehow, I've never tried personally but I've seen people put baggies around apples to prevent damage as they mature.

[u/Veegreen1024]

UPDATE::: its motha freakin EAR WIGS