The Protection Thread

[Yoda]

deers are bastards.

They dont like the smell of our chemical soaps, so hanging some arround your grow can ward them off for a while.

Same with the shit of any meat eating animal, i.e. lion shit / tiger shit.

But, as i say, only works for a while.

I got around my deer problem, by admitting that they were teh winners, and moving on.

Same with cows.

[]D

[Arnold Layne]

Piss a circle around your grow on a regular basis. If you have a dog, same applies, but make the dog piss circle a lot further from the plants. Dog turds, or any other "predator" animal faeces are also said to deter. You can even buy dried lion shit in garden centres these days. Again, place in a circle around your outdoor grow.

Just make sure that you don't place these deterrents too close to the plants. They may deter anmals, but they could also be toxic to plants if they were too close.

[stuff and nonsense]

they just love the tips as the plant goes into flower , cant think why deer dont like human scent things like human hair in a stocking , magic tree air fresheners , garden centres sell something called "silent roar" its big cat shit and keeps away most things on four legs , failing that theres the tried and trusted lead poisoning method works a treat and very tasty too .

[pissingintothewind]

hi all. has anyone had trouble with spiders laying eggs on their plants? all my plants in one field are having the same problem. spiders are bending the leaves over, laying a bag of eggs and cocooning the whole lot including themselves in silk. every 2 or 3 days i find this has happened on average in 4 places on each plant so i open up the cocoons, scrape the crap away and do it all over again in another couple of days. it cant do the plants much good but does anyone know how much of a problem it is? usually eggs are laid on or in a food source but i cant see spiders eating plants so i imagine the spiders own body will be the food when the eggs hatch (some species of spider do this). my other plants which are nearby but not in the same field are unaffected. any thoughts or advice?

[iamafunkimunki]

i had exactly this problem last year with my cream sodica#2 plant. tbh i removed them and they just came back. in the end i left them to it and they went about there business and buggered of leaving no damage other than about 4 deformed leaf tips where the eggs were laid.

Edited July 29, 2008 by Owderb

[amershamweed]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned before but here is a little tip for outdoor growers.

If you notice standard garden spiders spinning webs when you go to checkup on your plants try and pick them up 9or if like me you have a phobia use a stick to pick them up by their webs) and put them either on your plants if your plants are in situ or around your plants if your plants are in pots and regularly moved. I say this as its what I do and before to long you will have loads of spider body guards guarding your crops against any unwanted flying pests. They may also pick up the odd crawling pest. They get dinner you you get one or two less pests on your plants. Its not guaranteed to remove all pests but if it cuts down on one or two its worth it, isn't it?

[DreadVik]

Dunno if it's been said yet but it seems the cut pipes and slug pellets are quite noticeable depending on your location as non natural and could draw attension to your plant if found even to someone who doesnt recognise the plant when they might have been passed by and blent in wiht the surrounding plants. I'm getting around this by using beer still in the beer cans as a deterrant The areas I use often have such waste scattered around them from previous human visitation (not for a long while though so security is still the best I can hope for, I check the dates on the cans/wrappers) I've tested this in the garden to protect my mint and it seems to work well! It also has the added advantage of not being prone to filling up wiht rain as I have the can on the side wiht the opening at the highest point so you can get just about half a can of beer in there! they fill up wiht slugs so I leave a few scattered about and would bring fresh beer on my returns to my location. I make my own beer so its cheap too :evil:

[Dogstart]

Honeybees might deserve the title of the farmer’s best friend: A new study shows that not only do the busy insects pollinate flowers and make honey, they also scare away agricultural pests that like to chomp on the leaves of crop plants. Said the study’s coauthors: “Our findings indicate for the first time that visiting honeybees provide plants with a totally unexpected advantage…. They not only transport pollen from flower to flower, but in addition also reduce plant destruction by herbivores” [bBC News].

The bees act as inadvertent protectors of plants, researchers say. Caterpillars are constantly on the lookout for wasps, one of their main predators, and have delicate sensory hairs on their bodies that detect the air currents caused by a wasp’s beating wings. “These sensory hairs are not fine-tuned,” said [study coauthor] Jurgen Tautz…. “Therefore, caterpillars cannot distinguish between hunting wasps and harmless bees.” If an insect which they cannot identify generates air vibrations the caterpillars stop moving or drop away from the plant [Telegraph].

In the study, published in Current Biology [subscription required], researchers set up rows of bell pepper plants inside of enclosed tents. They then placed about 10 beet armyworm caterpillars (Spodoptera exigua), a notorious crop pest, on each plant. One tent had a window connected to a beehive, and feeders filled with a sugar solution attracted bees inside. The second tent was closed to the outside world. After about 2 weeks, [the researchers] collected the leaves from the bell pepper plants [scienceNOW Daily News]. They found that the plants grown in the tent with bees suffered about 60 percent less leaf damage than the other plants.

The researchers say their findings offer yet another reason to be worried about the decline of bee populations due the mysterious syndrome known only as colony collapse disorder, as the experiment shows another subtle benefit that bees bring to agriculture. Tautz says he can imagine that gardeners might someday take advantage of this effect. “Alternating rows of vegetables and flowers not only look beautiful, they may reduce the use of pesticides,” he says [science News].

blog source

[d_L_t]

Hi

I see all these Guerrilla grows and most use that fencing stuff for protection. I was wondering if anyone knew of any natural looking protection?

Maybe fake grass or something as I reckon if people were to stumble across your patch then obviously those barriers stand out a bit ie man-made looking which would raise suspicion, but if you had something natural looking then maybe it wouldn't even get a second look? Like blend into the enviroment.

I was thinking maybe use that chicken wire and in-cooperate some fake ivy wrapped around it Reckon it would work pretty well.

Share your thoughts

My point is, if it looks like its meant to be there - Then it wouldn't arise suspicions compared to cages around stems etc

[wakenbaker]

I am going to use young thin (but not too thin) tree trunks as my posts. Will also paint my chickenwire green and encorporate bits of bramble/dead twigs.

Also going to remove anything manmade once the plants are big enough to look after themselves.

Theres also some "wild animal repelant" you can buy to spray on plants (see my thread in sig) might give this a shot if my plants start getting nibbled after fencing is removed.

WB

[joe hawkins]

Fake grass against the mesh moight help the slugs and snails get access to your pride and joy. If you want natural go and get some nettle seeds and smother around you plants and access point to your plot,but not adjacent to your plants. I'm pretty sure you can buy cheap as chips off E**y or you cold rememmber to get thousands for free next oct from the real thing.

Joe

ETA just had a look on E**y and dear as fuck have a google

Edited January 11, 2009 by joe hawkins

[d_L_t]

fake grass like they use at the greengrocer, I dont knoiw of any other types. When I read your post I had such a funny mental image

hehe

yeah i dont mean like flat fake grass (like astroturf) :wink:

i meant like rigid long fake grass, like bracen structure - perhaps with a copper core, this will look natural and stop the bunnies getting in, it will be like a round cage with overhanging shoots about 10 cm apart

[d_L_t]

I am going to use young thin (but not too thin) tree trunks as my posts. Will also paint my chickenwire green and encorporate bits of bramble/dead twigs.

Also going to remove anything manmade once the plants are big enough to look after themselves.

Theres also some "wild animal repelant" you can buy to spray on plants (see my thread in sig) might give this a shot if my plants start getting nibbled after fencing is removed.

WB

not a bad idea will check out the repellent, cheers

yeah as you say, its only till they get established as you trim most undergrowth once 2-3ft

Fake grass against the mesh moight help the slugs and snails get access to your pride and joy. If you want natural go and get some nettle seeds and smother around you plants and access point to your plot,but not adjacent to your plants. I'm pretty sure you can buy cheap as chips off E**y or you cold rememmber to get thousands for free next oct from the real thing.

Joe

ETA just had a look on E**y and dear as fuck have a google

I heard slugs dont like copper, so maybe build the cage out of copper strands

bit too late to plant anything, i think your better off going for a more reliable method over the nettle seeds, would be good if it would work though mate

keep em coming :wink:

[joe hawkins]

I used copper adhesive tape wrapped around tubes from pop bottles last year worked to a degree. You dont have to plant nettle seeds just scattter.

Joe

Edited February 6, 2010 by O.G.

[leroy]

you can get the wire fence that is wrapped in green plastic, you dont have to use bare wire,

you can try these for the base but you still gotta protect the plant higher up in case any other plant 'bridges'

slug and snail stop

check out their Netting and Fencing section and you can see the green wire fence

Edited January 11, 2009 by leroy