My first garden plot!!!

[JRinPA]

I wonder why your particular bed is so attractive to the gophers.

It is a mystery...

gopherhole.jpg

[Moth1992]

i dont know but my plan is that by the end of the season my neighbour's plot will be "the gopher bed" and nit mine.

If i need more stainless steel than soil SO BE IT.

[bower]

Maybe the neighbor beds are using repellents?
I read that gophers have a very sensitive sense of smell and hate just about any strong odor: spice of your choice from pepper to cinnamon; herb plants like sage and rosemary. Or go with the intense volatiles in peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, mothballs or... dryer sheets??!! Down the hole and drive em out? That seems like the first place to start. "Not welcome" wagon before you plant a thing.
Also read that they love root crops the best, so I would forego potatoes, carrots and beets especially at the get-rid-of stage.
Meanwhile horror tales of watching them pull a whole tomato plant down into their hole.. oooh.
Any animal that can eat tomato plants is surely not too bothered by smells???
I hope you do find something they truly hate.

[Moth1992]

Maybe the neighbor beds are using repellents?
I read that gophers have a very sensitive sense of smell and hate just about any strong odor: spice of your choice from pepper to cinnamon; herb plants like sage and rosemary. Or go with the intense volatiles in peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, mothballs or... dryer sheets??!! Down the hole and drive em out? That seems like the first place to start. "Not welcome" wagon before you plant a thing.
Also read that they love root crops the best, so I would forego potatoes, carrots and beets especially at the get-rid-of stage.
Meanwhile horror tales of watching them pull a whole tomato plant down into their hole.. oooh.
Any animal that can eat tomato plants is surely not too bothered by smells???
I hope you do find something they truly hate.

The other beds are also victims of The Gopher Wars but mine has like the Boss Gopher living under. Ive spent hours reading about repellents and ultrasound stakes and while there are some anecdotes, I see no actual data to back it up.

Looks like stainless steel and traps is the only proven way specially if they are so vicious as they say. And gasing them out but thats a bit too gonzo for me ( yet).

Ive ordered mesh cages and plan to make some above ground protection. I will start planting lettuce and onions and other stuff im less emotionally invested in before putting any tomatoes to test effectiveness.

[MarkAndre]

Congratulations! It is a wonderful thing, to have a space for your first garden. And 12x7 is a big space, especially compared to 0x0. You can fit lots in there.

As for how many tomatoes at what spacing, how often will you be at your plot? In my limited experience, pinching suckers (pruning) is an almost daily activity. People get good results with pruning, but some of us don’t have the time and resources to devote to it. If you aren’t going to prune, chances are you will be unhappy with 2’ spacing. How far? 4’ is better than 2’, 5’is better than 4’. Some may depend on your climate. You can cheat a bit with the spacing at the edges of the bed, although growing beyond the border of your bed seems like it could be against the rules. You could search for compact indeterminates on a site like Tatiana’s Tomatobase. Not dwarves, just smaller indeterminates.

As mentioned above, the little wire cages they sell at the hardware stores will do nothing to support a big indeterminate plant in a wind storm. A few good cages might be a wise investment, if that is within your budget.

Again, congratulations and happy gardening!

[MarkAndre]

Sorry, I see you are more into the gopher side of things now. I am new here and forget to check for extra pages before commenting.

[zeuspaul]

Don't waste your time with repellents and sonic devices. I choose traps over poisons and gasses. I can see the results. It needs to be a group effort. They can travel a long distance over ground when relocating. A chicken wire fence can prevent surface relocation however they also can dig tunnels between the plots. I find they look for easy digging which generally is the well irrigated soil. I look for new activity after a rain storm and then place the trap.

A surface barrier using chicken wire is doable but installing a subsurface barrier seems like a lot of work. It would need to be a foot+ deep?

It may look like there are a lot of gophers due to all of the mounds. However when the mounds are grouped together it is usually just one.

I don't bate my traps however a small carrot might help prevent the gopher from filling the trap with dirt and instead choose to eat the carrot instead. I have neighbors who use poisons and some who use gas from a lit something and both work.

It is a very doable thing and best if you have others also getting rid of the gophers.

[Moth1992]

@zeuspaul im going to try the black box ones you use. Ive only seen one hole so far but im sure as I start planting they will start popping out.

[zeuspaul]

It has a strong spring so be careful. Wearing gloves might be helpful. There is a little variation with the trigger. A slightly different angle on the trigger mechanism determines how easily the trap is sprung. First I set it all the way. I place it on the ground while I push the mechanism down. Then holding the trap with my fingers away from the inside bar and holding the trigger mechanism I move it slightly towards its sprung condition by moving the internal wire with my other hand that the gopher runs into to set off the trap.

Good luck. If you find an old tunnel you likely won't catch anything. You can set the trap at the single entrance hole or dig a little more to uncover a main tunnel but you will need two traps for the main tunnel. Or if you only have one trap for the main tunnel make a best guess and leave one side open. Then you will either catch the gopher or you will know which side the gopher is on and then reset the trap on the right side.

blackbox.png

[zeuspaul]

The reason I don't use the sonic repellents and therefor know little about them is that I have several acres and repelling a gopher from a garden location is that it will just end up in another nearby location.

A community garden is a different situation. If they work and I assume they do something there could be a benefit to protect a small garden space. Perhaps a couple on each side of the garden would encourage them to invade an adjacent garden plot.

[Moth1992]

The reason I don't use the sonic repellents and therefor know little about them is that I have several acres and repelling a gopher from a garden location is that it will just end up in another nearby location.

A community garden is a different situation. If they work and I assume they do something there could be a benefit to protect a small garden space. Perhaps a couple on each side of the garden would encourage them to invade an adjacent garden plot.

I see no good sources that suggest they do anything to gophers. And they probably repel the the coyotes who eat gophers.

[Moth1992]

Today I tested my first prototype of the F-U- Gopher-9000 on some sorry looking garlics that hated being in a pot.



The garlics may not make it but it was good practice before I try with something more valuable.

Ive had like 3-4 people offer to come and show me how to set up traps. The antigopher solidarity is strong.

[Julianna]

F-U- Gopher-9000... Omg

[Moth1992]

Today I deployed my prototype of the F-U-Gopher-TheCage model. Im fairly pleased with how it came out.








A kid from the playground hung out with me while I planted the strawberries and told me in no uncertain terms she will be picking my strawberries and tomatoes....sigh...

Gophers, squirrels and cheeky kids..... Do I stand a chance?

[zeuspaul]

Wow! I'm impressed. You're serious about protecting those plants. Good job

[MarkAndre]

Nice work!

Maybe you could plant a trap crop for the kids.

[Moth1992]

Nice work!

Maybe you could plant a trap crop for the kids.

Do trap crops work with kids? they have an ice cream van ffs! Leave my strawberries be!

[bower]

I think strawberries might BE the trap crop for kids....

[Whwoz]

I think strawberries might BE the trap crop for kids....

Will second that comment based on what I see from the two younger members of this family

[Rockporter]

Today I deployed my prototype of the F-U-Gopher-TheCage model. Im fairly pleased with how it came out.








A kid from the playground hung out with me while I planted the strawberries and told me in no uncertain terms she will be picking my strawberries and tomatoes....sigh...

Gophers, squirrels and cheeky kids..... Do I stand a chance?

Too bad it sounds like there isn't a fenced garden area separate from the playground? The community garden I had a plot in is fully fenced off with a locked gate, the only way you get in is if you have the code. It's a pretty tall fence too, I suppose someone could climb it but it certainly makes it harder to get into.