A stranger in the garden

[charahome]

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the yard at the house I will be moving to next year, and there was a tomato plant growing. No one planted it. Just appeared. There were 5 tomatoes on it, all different sizes. There were over a dozen buds ready to open, and a couple that had opened and had the tiniest tomato in them.

I was surprised and pleased. The next day, I went to check on it, and each tomato had bites on it. There were no bugs on it that were visible. Every tomato that has managed to grow, same thing has happened.

Should I get rid of the plant, since I can't figure out what is eating it?

 

[claudine]

This is really weird! Is this yard fenced in? If it's not, it's possible that a random child ran there and decided to try the tometoes. Or maybe it was a dog? I've never heard of a dog that would like tomatoes, but everything is possible I guess.
If I were you, I wouldn't get rid of the plant. Soon or later, it'll produce more delicious tomatoes.

 

[Kansas Terri]

If it were in my yard, I would think that a squirrel was thirsty and was eating the tomato for the moisture! They do that, sometimes! And, for some reason it sounds much better to think "A squirrel ate it" instead of "A rat ate it"..

Either one is possible, actually, though with my pets I have very few rats or mice where I live. There were a LOT of mice in the area when I moved in, but now they are gone. I give half the credit to the housing development that went up across the street (the fields of grain are gone) and half the credit to our two cats and our little terrier. Some of the neighbors have cats also, and now the mice are gone!

A squirrel, of course, is never far from something that can be climbed on, and so the squirrels remain. No cat can out-climb a squirrel!

 

[charahome]

The yard is not fenced, is wide open. We are not sure what kind of rodent may be. It is my boyfriends house where I will be moving into next year. There are racoons, moles, owls, other rodents, birds, and who knows what else.

We were thinking of replanting it into a large pot, and bring it into the porch. So far, not one tomato has survived. It is very frustrating. They are nice size, and look so delicious.

 

[gata montes]

I'm thinking as your tomato plant is producing good sized, delicious looking tomatoes, its certainly worth trying to keep it, but whilst trying to figure out what creature might be nibbling on it, you might like to consider putting a fence round it - just in case you have a tomato eating cat in the area, who like mine - just loves tomatoes, but she doesn't always just take a bite, she often takes whole tomatoes and feeds them to her kittens

 

[Gardener]

I wouldn't kill it or move it at this stage. I would suggest leaving it there and letting the animals eat it, as they have feelings to! But in all honesty, you should just leave it there unless you desperately want to eat those tomatoes. You could also plant more tomato plants and fence them in, so they can't be breached.

 

[Kaylah]

Hmm... You might want to consider putting a fence around it. Some animal was hungry and they sure do like tomatoes. LOL.

If I were you, I would keep on trying to grow tomatoes since they seem to do so well, but put a fence around them.

 

[charahome]

After reading all your posts, It seems like the census is to leave the plant alone and put a fence around it. Thank you for taking the time to suggest a variety of solutions.

First, I do want to eat the tomatoes,
Second, I am afraid we found it is a rodent. They carry many diseases.
Third, We have decided to replant it in a very large pot, and we are moving it inside.
Fourth, we are not going to eat of this harvest due to possible contamination by rodents.

Thank you guys. It is nice of all you to take the time to respond.

 

[claudine]

Replanting it in a large pot and moving it indoors sounds like a very good solution, Charahome. I hope the plant will survive the transplant. There is nothing better than delicious, fresh tomatoes.
Writing about them made me hungry!

 

[Trellum]

Yikes! What a huge disappointment I feel sorry for you, that plant sounded so healthy, and those tomatoes sounded so tasty and nice! There are so many things that could be eating them. Most of the times is a rodent... I'd keep the plant, and once you move there... you can just fence the garden.

 

[Kaylah]

After reading all your posts, It seems like the census is to leave the plant alone and put a fence around it. Thank you for taking the time to suggest a variety of solutions.

First, I do want to eat the tomatoes,
Second, I am afraid we found it is a rodent. They carry many diseases.
Third, We have decided to replant it in a very large pot, and we are moving it inside.
Fourth, we are not going to eat of this harvest due to possible contamination by rodents.

Thank you guys. It is nice of all you to take the time to respond.

Moving your tomato plants inside is a very good idea. That way, you still get to enjoy your tomatoes, and the rodent won't be able to get into them. Much safer and sanitary that way.

 

[cmckinney01]

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the yard at the house I will be moving to next year, and there was a tomato plant growing. No one planted it. Just appeared. There were 5 tomatoes on it, all different sizes. There were over a dozen buds ready to open, and a couple that had opened and had the tiniest tomato in them.

I was surprised and pleased. The next day, I went to check on it, and each tomato had bites on it. There were no bugs on it that were visible. Every tomato that has managed to grow, same thing has happened.

Should I get rid of the plant, since I can't figure out what is eating it?

 

[cmckinney01]

It sounds to me as if a deer or woodchuck bit your tomatoes. They have done it to me. I sympathize with your frustration.
In the future, you can keep them away by sprinkling cayenne pepper or mothballs around your tomato plants. Either method works well.

 

[zigs]

Just seen this one, you'll be able to overwinter the plant indoors, you can also take some of the side shoots off and root them up as cuttings, they take very well.