Do Rabbits Eat Tomato Plants? How to Keep Bunnies Out Now Jenny Graham, June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 Do rabbits eat tomato plants? Well maybe not so much the tomato plants, once established, but they sure do love to eat fresh tomatoes. Do Rabbits Eat Tomato Plants? Signs of a Rabbit Problem If you have a rabbit problem in the vegetable garden they are sure to leave signs. Not only will they leave tracks in your garden beds but rabbit droppings as well. Not to mention your tomatoes that are half eaten. You can often confirm that you have rabbits in the garden by heading out in the early morning to catch them in action. How Do Rabbits Eat Tomato Plants? Rabbits may occasionally feast on your young plants, cutting stems clean and neat, unlike deer who leave jagged edges. I have found that rabbits don’t prefer to eat all the parts of the tomato plant, as the tomato leaves and stems contain a toxic substance that causes stomach upset. They will however wait on those nice ripe tomatoes. Do Rabbits Eat Tomato Plants? I often lose my first tomatoes that are ripening low on the plant to rabbit damage. Harvesting them early, at breaker stage, is a good idea if you have a rabbit problem. It can save them from becoming a snack for the rabbits. Protecting Your Vegetable Garden Against Rabbits There are several tactics you can use to protect your vegetable garden from rabbits. Using the first three will keep your tomato plants and vegetable garden safe from rabbits, deer, and other critters. Habitat Removal Keeping the perimeter of the garden neat and tidy will deter rabbits from setting up shop around your garden. They love to hide out in thick brush piles. Low-growing shrubs are also a perect hideout for rabbits. Fencing and Netting A good garden fence goes a long way. Going with a welded wire fence or chicken wire fence is one of the most effective methods to keep rabbits out of the garden. Chicken wire is pretty cheap and works great. It is able to keep even the smallest young rabbits out. Alternatively, you could use bird netting or simply put wire cages around your garden plants to protect them. Build Raised Beds Gardeing in raised beds is also a good choice to keep rabbits from eating your tomatoes or other plants in the vegetable garden. Just be sure to build them tall enough so the rabbits cannot hop into them. Scare Tactics Deploying some scare tactics is another way to keep critters, like rabbits out of the garden. Rabbits are spooked relatively easy. Motion Activated Lights Motion Activated Sprinkler Hang Shiny Objects Predators Actual or decoy predators will help keep rabbits out of the garden. We keep one of our livestock guardian dogs in our chicken coop, which happens to be right beside my garden. Having natural predators nearby keeps the rabbits away from the garden. Furthermore, you could use a decoy predator, like a fake owl, in the garden to deter the bunnies. Rabbit Repellents There are several repellents you could use to keep rabbits hopping on by your garden space. Rabbits are very sensitive to smells. You can easily make homemade repellents or use premade commercial repellents like this nautral garlic and peppermint oil repellent. It repells deer and rabbits. Human Hair as a Repellent Human hair is also another great repellent for rabbits and deer. Instead of throwing away the hair clippings from your next haircut, sweep them up and sprinkle them around the base of the plant. The human scent will keep the critters away. Repel Rabbits With Soap Shavings The fragrant smell of Irish Spring soap will keep these long-eared animals away from your vegetable garden. Grab a cheese grater and get busy grating up a bar of soap. Sprinkle the shavings around plants you want to protect from rabbits. Blood Meal to Repel Rabbits The smell of blood meal is associated with predator attacks. Sprinkling blood meal around is a great way to keep them from setting foot in your garden space. As a bonus, adding this organic amendment will also fertilize your garden. Garlic Hot Sauce Spray This homemade repellent is easy to make and will efeectively repel rabbits and deer from the vegetable garden. Spray it around the perimeter of the garden or around your plants. I do not recommend spraying your actual plants though, as it could burn the foliage. 2 garlic bulbs 6 hot peppers, like Cayenne Pepper 1 onion 2 tablespoons liquid dishwashing soap 2 cups of hot water Blend up the garlic, hot peppers, onions, and hot water. Let the mixture steep for 24 hours. Strain it, add the dish soap, and pour it into a spray bottle to spray around the garden. Trapping Live rabbit trapping is a great way to get rid of rabbits in the vegetable garden. Loading the trap up with a nutritious treat can catch a rabbit in a single night. You’ll just have to find a place to relocate it far away from your garden. Where there’s one rabbit there are sure to be more so be prepared to set the trap agin. Water Often times rabbits may be snacking on your fresh tomatoes just for the water content. Try putting out a bowl of water to see if that quenches their thurst enough for them to leave your tomatoes alone. Controlling the Rabbit Population Around the Garden Not only can you use repellents, decoy predators, and scare tactics to keep rabbits away from the garden, you can also add more plants. Using companion planting is an easy and useful fix to keep rabbits from eating your tomatoes. Plants Rabbits Don’t Like Asparagus Leeks Onions Potatoes Rhubarb Summer Squash Basil Lavender Marjoram Mint Oregano Parsley Sage Savory Tarragon Zinnias Do Rabbits Eat Tomato Plants? Do half eaten young tomato plants have you wondering if rabbits eat tomato plants? From tender shoots to green fruits, rabbits will eat your tomatoes. Small, young plants are especially vulnerable to being eaten. Once established rabbits will generally not eat your tomato plants. Be prepared to pull out all the stops once your plants are setting fruit though. The high sugar content and water content of ripe fruit make them irresistable to rabbits. Happy Homesteading, Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 9 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and most of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, pastured poultry, sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. Striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, using the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides! Gardening Homesteading