I've been patiently waiting for my George wilson plums to finish ripening, they were pretty close, edible but not quite sweet enough. Went out to try one this morning and some a##ehole has stripped the tree! I lie they missed one. which i promptly ate. I have a fully fenced section and 2 dogs that bark at everyone and everything so they must have snuck in at night when they were locked in the garage. I wonder if they'll be back when the grapes finish ripening. Maybe i'll leave the dogs out at night and give them a bit of a fright LOL
kuaka,
Feb 20, 1:21am
I had that happen to me last year with my mandarins, but the culprit was a big fat possum
dibble35,
Feb 20, 1:27am
Mine might be big fat kids, I would blame the dogs as they have been eating the lower hanging grapes, but these were a bit high up.
artemis,
Feb 20, 2:28am
How frustrating! The following might help for next year.
- Fruits which ripen after picking include bananas, melons, kiwi, papaya, pears, and stone fruit such as apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums.
- Those fruits that do not ripen after they have been picked include apples, grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges, pineapple, tangerines and watermelons.
jenner4,
Feb 20, 2:32am
mine was my orange tree, , and i still cant let it go
lythande1,
Feb 20, 2:59am
Why lock up your dogs!
dibble35,
Feb 20, 3:02am
I'm on a busy street and they bark at every noise/person. would drive me and the neighbours nuts if they were barking. every night
babyluthi,
Feb 20, 4:23am
Are there stones all over the ground!Could it have been birds!We have had three cherry trees stripped bare in less than 24 hours by birds before.
dibble35,
Feb 20, 4:49am
Nope just the bare tree. other than the 1they missed which I got, if a good crop next year will have to lock the gates, but then my dad said they'd just jump the fence, surely not, reasonably tall fence and not easy to climb. I've got 5 youngish plum trees and this is the last one to ripen,and was the most fruitful. oh well I enjoyed the ones i've had before this
wendalls,
Feb 20, 8:42am
That would make me cry. ! Security lights! I'd wanna set a trap next year. Ha ha. Not sure how. A sign on the gate "beware of the dogs!"
dibble35,
Feb 20, 10:44pm
Yep may have to get a bigger sign, and booby trap around the trees LOL, actually security lights may not be a silly idea and easy enough to do as my dads handy with things like that.
drgl33t,
Feb 21, 12:10am
gutted my sister come n stripped my hawera plum bare the past 2 years. this summer i chained my dog to the tree n had a grand harvest.
redhead96,
Feb 21, 1:17am
Put up a big sign saying "Dear thieves, Those plums were sprayed."
pericles,
Feb 21, 1:18am
someone stripped my lemon tree a few years ago
wasgonna,
Feb 21, 2:22am
Next year inject a few in a small area with liquid laxative.
cwnda,
Feb 21, 11:19am
Some years ago school kids were picking my cherries on their way home so I rigged up the hose into the tree & made sure the water was right up into the spray head ready for use. I reckon there were some fancy explanations given to their mums when they got home soaking wet.
dibble35,
Feb 21, 7:56pm
LOL, you're evil :-)
i_wilde,
Feb 21, 8:10pm
Nothing wrong with kids pinching a few pieces of fruit on the way home from school, most kids these days think fruit comes from the supermarket. But stripping a whole tree! Sounds like the work of an insane jam making granny!
dibble35,
Feb 21, 10:13pm
Yeah I guess if they have access from bits hanging across a fence or something, not when it involves coming onto your property.
creeky1,
Feb 21, 11:24pm
Portable electric fence, rig it at night so it's not seen during the day. And crank it up to maximum.
coralsnake,
Feb 21, 11:35pm
Attach some barbed wire to to the top of the gate/fence. I did this several years ago when we had gang member boyfriend & mates move in with solo mum living in house behind us.
Or you could do what they do in Mexico - run a strip of concrete along where you need to then insert broken bottles neck down in to the concrete.
dibble35,
Feb 22, 2:14am
LOL that sounds classy
dibble35,
Feb 22, 2:14am
I love this idea !
pedulla,
Feb 22, 2:59am
what a pain - you could put up a sign saying they have been sprayed so dont eat as not safe
wheelz,
Feb 22, 3:39am
One year I had morons jump my fence and strip my fruit trees of unripe apples, plums, breaking branches in the process, of any tree that had fruit on. Pull out my stakes from tomatoes, leaving the plants crumpled and broken. Tear up the bird netting. Then arrange my stakes on the ground to spell out F T W! Beats me what I did to upset anyone. And my backyard is not visible from any road.
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