Are my mound-rows ok? And a bonus gopher problem.

[crookpot]

I was thinking about putting a strip of bird spikes along the circumference of the pot, but with 6' pots that requires about 19' of strip, and the strips are quite expensive, roughly $3/ft even in bulk packs. I don't THINK I've seen 'em climb up the pot and attack from surface of the pot, but I've seen some suspicious looking mini-piles of dirt and potentially a collapsed tiny tunnel, but can't be positive. Perhaps a ground mouse, some other burrowing animal besides gophers that typically leave a much more noticeable dirt mound.

 

[oct]

Rodents don't climb pots (at least I've never seen it). I don't know about the aviary netting, I've never used it. If you do the raised style baskets with hardware cloth, you can leave 8 inches poking above ground for stalk protection. I've seen field mice gnaw stalks like you wouldn't believe.

Pretty much the easiest way to think about any of this is like, yeah its a pain in the ass, yeah its kinda costly, yada yada..

But if even ONE plant gets killed by some stupid rodent, that would cost 10-20x over what the hardware cloth and time would be. I dunno...I refuse to lose sleep over bugs and rodents so I just take care of that shit in a manner I don't question.

 

[plantingplants]

oct, I tried searching tess's thread for your description of the baskets but couldn't find It. I remember seeing a picture in there. What are they exactly? From the looks of it I make a basket and bury it? My mounds are pretty big.. Can't they eat the roots growing out of the basket?

At this point, time is a big consideration but money is also an issue. But I gotta do what I gotta do because like you I definitely don't want to stay up at night. Which is also why I'm dropping some money on motion detectors and picture messaging game cams.

Crookpot, I've seen the same holes under smart pots with no mesh, but they still never entered through the fabric.

 

[theJointedOne]

Bury a basket made of Carpenter cloth

 

[_tessarecting]

5x2 hardware cloth
16g galvanized steel wire
Mug shaped

I did 5 ties vertically and 8 on the bottom per mug. If there were any visible gaps in the structure I added more wire.

 

[oct]

I wrote tess a PM about how to do it a few months ago. Build cages that resemble a coffee mug ...Circular with a closed bottom and open top.

Yes they can eat the roots outside of the basket, but it won't cause any issues.

 

[Stone House]

Sorry the trencher didn't work for you, my property didn't have many large rocks.

If you don't do the baskets Oct and Tess suggested, I would at the very least do the rodent traps and possibly the poison injected into the tunnels I mentioned earlier.

I know you have a fondness for rodents (rats) but if you lost a few plants due to the gophers I'm sure you would have a change of heart (imagine scene from Caddyshack).

I also remember reading here on IC , that you can put a bowl of water near plants and mice/rats will drink water from bowl instead of girdling plant stocks. I don't know if this is true but I do it anyway.

Many grows have been successful without protection from gophers/moles, but the peace of mind you get knowing they are not a threat is a great relief.

 

[crookpot]

Last year my newly adopted dog dug out a good 30 gallons worth of medium from a 400gal pot, trying to bury a bone. Tore up a ton of roots but amazingly the plant didn't see to mind it too much.

 

[plantingplants]

So I found 15 gallon gopher baskets for trees for only $5 something each. Glad I don't have to make them myself. Now all I have to do is dig the holes out for the cages which is already 1/3 of the way done.

Thanks for all the help and tips everyone.

 

[_tessarecting]

Sweet find plants, how big are they, what are they made out of, where do you get them? Saves you a days worth of work.

 

[MileHighGlass]

A 6 pack of beer, a bowl to smoke, a 22 rifle, and possibly some homemade explosives, and you won't have a gopher problem. I would sit on my deck with a pellet gun and take out the ground hogs that would tear the shit out of my garden. It really is kind of fun.

FYI I'm vegan. Seriously.

 

[plantingplants]

MileHigh, they don't seem very active. Th mounds I trampled don't look revisited and I haven't seen any new ones.

Tess, they aren't quite the specs I wanted but I think they'll be fine: 17" diameter, 20" deep, 3/4" holes, wire mesh. From Peaceful Valley in grass valley (groworganic.com)

 

[shawkmon]

dogs can be trained to eat gophers , they love it, gives thewm a job too

 

[_tessarecting]

Sometimes mushrooms make a hole before they fruit too

I had deer make holes with their hooves until the fence got installed

 

[stoned-trout]

home made smoke bombs too.....yeehaw...I had them in my greenhouses once...it was war...