Are My Plants Safe Against Deer???

[Brother Sweetleaf]

My three late-season guerrilla-grow Autoflowers are now just over a month old, and have grown to a height of about a foot or so (give-or-take, depending on the plant). Just beside a couple of small evergreen trees, I have the 5-gallon pots cammoflaged and protected with an encircling 18 inch ring of chickenwire that I've barbed at the top (to keep critters from eating the plants). The area attracts very, very few (if any) passers-by-- and does have deer in the area (I've seen them within 20 feet of the plants), and the plants and the containers they're in blend into the environment REALLY well... Except for the chickenwire-- which captures highly-reflective rain & dew droppletts and has a grid-like pattern that can be seen from some distance away.



My question is: Do deer find Marijuana plants tasty once the plants have grown past the seedling/baby stage??? If I removed the chickenwire (to make the plants more camoflaged), would my girls be safe against hungry deer and critters???

'

Thanks for your advice and opinions!

 

[Eekman]

Brother Sweetleaf

Can I call you Stevia for short? Ha ha ha, just kidding, couldn't resist.


Okay the deer Problem. I think if you could put some vegetation in the chicken wire, grasses, branches, and leaves to disguise the wire. You can also spray paint the wire with a non glossy type of paint in dark colors.

Another member just told us about a recipe somewhere,

LEt me quote him:

"1 egg 1 cup milk and tsp of dawn dish soap mix egg and milk then add dawn spray on what ever you want deer not to eat

blood meal may keep deer away but Ive had foxes coons dogs dig up plants cause of the blood meal "

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The one thing I have noticed around here, is that once all the other vegetation dries out, they will go for the vegetation that contains the most moisture in them first. They will seek out a greener plant, even if they don't normally feeed on it, just for the moisture content.

This asks the question, do the deer have enough of thier regular feed to keep them happy, or will your grow become a target because of scarce food conditions for the deer.


They leave all the blackberry bushes alone here, until they are the only things left in the fall with moist leaves, then they trim them back for me. :smoke:

They have hit my tomatoes, and one of my squash plants, took a bite out of a squash, and didn't like it I guess, lol, cuz he left the rest , ha ha ha.

They leave the corn and peppers and melons alone. They used to leave the strwberries alone, then we got hit. They can wipe out quite a bit at one time, so make sure you are vigilant in your efforts.

Also, since it is a guerilla deal, pee around them as much as possible.

I am sure other folks will have some ideas also.


bye for now


Eek

 

[Muddy]

Deer will eat the plants regardless of what growth stage they are in. I've had them eat the buds off the whole side of a plant. After trying several different methods, hair, urine, I found that Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellant works the best. I wouldn't spray the plants directly if they are budding but spray the pot and a good 3-4' around the pot. In 4 years of using it I never had another deer nibble on my plants. I get it at Tractor Supply. Monthly treatments are all that's needed.

 

[oldster]

Hi Sweetleaf, I had most of a grow wiped out by deer earlier this year so I would definitely keep using the chicken wire. Eek's idea of adding some camo is a good one. I did not have luck with deer repellants with mine and there was no shortage of regular food for the deer.

 

[thetreeman]

Best thing you can do, IMO is use scent repellant. Deer dont like humans, especially if you live in an area where there is a lot of hunting. Take a 1 gallon milk jug and rinse it out, dump in a 1 quart jug of 90% iso and fill the rest with urine. The iso will keep the urine from getting nasty. Fill a pop bottle, 20oz works fine with piss solution and stick in a wick, 3/8 nylon rope braid is what I used. Make a couple of these and put them around your plants. The wick should stick up an inch or two from the top of the bottle. I melted holes in the caps and stuck the wick through that. This will provide scent deterrent for a couple months, depending on your temp and humidity, which effect evaporation rates. This will not repel insects, but should do a good job keeping deer and rabbits away.

 

[natertots]

Best thing you can do, IMO is use scent repellant. Deer dont like humans, especially if you live in an area where there is a lot of hunting. Take a 1 gallon milk jug and rinse it out, dump in a 1 quart jug of 90% iso and fill the rest with urine. The iso will keep the urine from getting nasty. Fill a pop bottle, 20oz works fine with piss solution and stick in a wick, 3/8 nylon rope braid is what I used. Make a couple of these and put them around your plants. The wick should stick up an inch or two from the top of the bottle. I melted holes in the caps and stuck the wick through that. This will provide scent deterrent for a couple months, depending on your temp and humidity, which effect evaporation rates. This will not repel insects, but should do a good job keeping deer and rabbits away.

Yup, the oldtimers pee all around there plants down here. This method would keep ya from haveing to go out there so much I think. Dont work with boars though if you have those but an aught 6 will lol. Here there is no hunting regulation on hogs since they are invasive species here.

 

[RudBud]

foliar feed w/ a light fish emulsion.some use a chemical sprayer.deer will get use to the other smells and become acustomed however a deer wont eat something that smells like dead carp,just be sure to stop a few weeks before havest.good luck!!

 

[RudBud]

like I said,oders are only a temp fix foor deer,they ajust.but if you want to go that route here are a few things ive done before i started using fish emulsion.piss by your garden,irish sprng soap(green) in a tree at waist level.cut dirty socks into strips n tie at the base,after rain just use cheap perfume to spray on socks.GL!!

 

[Muddy]

foliar feed w/ a light fish emulsion.some use a chemical sprayer.deer will get use to the other smells and become acustomed however a deer wont eat something that smells like dead carp,just be sure to stop a few weeks before havest.good luck!!

While fish emulsion might keep the deer away, other animals like racoons and possums will be drawn by the fish smell. They can cause just as much damage as a deer.

 

[hedgeraider]

mix engine cleaner, vinegar, and meat in a bottle and leave 1-3 bottles around the plants. it works quite well for boar and deer. add some fishing line to startle deer when they walk into it, they dont go past it if they can't see the barrier.