I love growing my own food but I have had to limit the types of plants I grow because rats always come and eat them.

In previous years I have had rats devour my entire beet, carrot, pea, and strawberry harvests each in a matter of one or two nights.

I set snap traps every night with peanut butter (and trip them every morning so I don’t kill any birds). Last year I killed 17, this year I have already killed 5.

I am now growing peas that climb taller so the rats can’t reach them. Next year I plan on hanging my strawberry plants off the ground. I have started removing all the lower branches of my tomatoes so they can’t climb them. I have given up on carrots, beets, and daikon…

Has anyone found any effective methods to manage this? My neighbour won’t do anything about the rats and their property is entirely overgrown.

I have heard spreading hot pepper flakes can discourage them from coming around.

  • SpacebarEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    You are only going to have success with a physical barrier. Consider rat bait boxes, as well keeping up as the traps, but the rats must have a food source next door, so they will never be able to be eradicated by you alone. One rat will destroy your whole crop.

    Make a cage out of coated chicken wire. It had to be a box shape, covered on the top as well, it also has to extend outward 1 foot on the ground from the base of the “box.”

    Visualize a cardboard box with the open side on the ground and the flaps extended on the ground.

      • SpacebarEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Four sticks in the ground for corners, then zip ties to hold it all together. Cover the outward flaps with soil or mulch to confuse those rat fckrs.

  • kiwifoxtrot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    Try liquid fence. It contains a lot of oils such as garlic, cinnamon, and mint that will repel most animals.

  • darkfoe@lemmy.serverfail.partyEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    Are you in more of a suburban area or a farm area? Only things I’ve seen take care of them before is something that actively hunts them, or cleanup of the area they breed/hide in.

    Ie, cats, raptors (hawks, eagles), coyotes

    They’re quite smart creatures is the annoying bit. So anything minor isn’t going to stop them

  • Wigglet@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Switch up your baits with a hazelnut chocolate spread for a while. Do you have an autoreset trap? Also netting around all your garden beds helps as well.

      • Wigglet@beehaw.orgEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        This is probably not local to you but this is an auto reset trap. They’re super effective for mice and rats but quite an investment upfront.

        For the nets, i use sticks to form a fence and hold them up about 40cm then drape a 2nd net over the top forming a cage. It keeps birds out as well. Then i just lift up the top net for access as needed and take it off over the winter but leave the side nets up to keep rabbits out of my cover crops and salad beds

          • Wigglet@beehaw.orgEnglish
            3·
            1 year ago

            Here rodents are all invasive pests so getting rid of as many as possible to save our flora and fauna is very important. Councils occasionally do grants for this and wasp control (also invasive and non native with specialised targeted baits that don’t harm native insects). We’ve been working hard to establish some native bush along both sides of our ridge with the top as a garden so we aren’t going to let the rodents eat all our progress haha