My hardware cloth tomato cage looks similar to this:

I'm enjoying this thread. If folks could post pictures of what they've done (scare tape, hardware cloth, etc.) I think it would be very helpful!

Are you sure it's not squirrels? They can chew through the mesh.

I built a tomato cage out of hardware cloth and NOTHING has eaten my tomatoes this year, after years of losing them to squirrels. Squirrels can get though anything that's not metal.

Fortunately we haven't had issues this year with birds or squirrels stealing tomatoes. I heard that early on in the season you can put up red Christmas ornaments / lights to fool the birds before the tomatoes bear fruit and ripen. Maybe consider this for next summer?

Anonymous wrote:Chili Powder - but you have to go out and sprinkle them regularly. It keeps the squirrels away from my tomatoes!

It can also make them literally scratch their eyes out in pain. Do you want that on your conscience?

I was having similar trouble and I bought a fake owl. It's worked great! I try to move it to a new spot every day or so.

This is the one I got (only $11): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N8HZ/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good thing my birds are so distracted by the strawberries they ignore our tomatoes.

Cheese cloth sounds good for strawberries though, since they are little.

Chili Powder - but you have to go out and sprinkle them regularly. It keeps the squirrels away from my tomatoes!

Wow, what is bird scare tape? we have chicken wire but it is totally useless against birds, who have eaten two of our almost ripe tomatoes. going to strosneiders tomorrow....

Anonymous wrote:Bird scare tape works and is easier to use than bird netting.

OP here. Thanks! I had no idea this even existed. Everything is now covered with netting, but next year I'm going full hog and encircling my containers with the chicken wire.

Just use chicken wire and don't leave any gaps.

Bird scare tape works and is easier to use than bird netting.

cheesecloth work too.

Put a net over them. It works for squirrels.

The first year I planted my garden in a raised bed that took me a week to dig out in the backyard and got nothing between the bunnies, resident rat, squirrels and birds. The next year, I decided to move to containers in the front yard and surround each container with a wire mesh with bird netting on top - all of my tomatoes and cucumbers got the wilt and died and I got nothing. This year, my tomatoes and cucumbers are growing really well with an abundant crop in containers, but now that the tomatoes are starting to turn red, the birds are making their way through my wire mesh surround and eating the tomatoes. I just spent an hour wrapping the entire plants with more bird netting. Now I know why real gardeners use hot houses and green houses.

Just wondering if anyone else has been battling nature and do you just pick your tomatoes while they are green and let them ripen inside?