Natural Deer Repellent

DJ54 · Aug 3, 2013

I've also been experimenting with spraying beans & corn foilage, with hot pepper juice. I take 6-8 Jalepeno peppers, and put in a blender, and pretty well puree', then add water, and pulse the blender to mix it up. I get close to 4 cups of hot pepper juice. I then strain the juice and freeze in small gatorade bottles to preserve. I add one cup of the juice to 1-1/2 gallons of water in my hand sprayer + 2 tsp. of dish soap, and that also seems to keep the deer from chewing things up. It also works as a somewhat organic pesticide. It kept the Mexican Bean Beetles off the Roma's I planted, not so well on the silk worms on the corn. For a back-up, I used a spray containing Spinosad, which has been deemed organic.

I planted jalepeno's for next years juice spray, and have them in the freezer, and have been using a few along too. Been working so far..!!

CliffordK · Aug 3, 2013

My deer really like eating the sunflowers. Are you sure you're not putting up deer attractants? Is the idea to encourage the deer to eat the sunflowers instead of the corn? It might work. My deer wouldn't bother the corn much if there is other stuff to eat, but they still like tomatoes and such.

I am going to experiment with castor beans to try to discourage the gophers. Perhaps the deer won't like them either, although I assume they are smart enough to avoid the castor, and eat what they like.

DJ54 · Aug 3, 2013

I wondered that too, seeing guys plant sunflowers for the deer, but they have not touched them either. Maybe they prefer my alfalfa to sunflowers, or the neighbors Honeysuckle. But the white stripers get pretty tall, so maybe out of their reach..??

They did eat the tops of my unprotected green beans, and sampled some tops of sweet corn I planted outside the hedge row intentionally, to try the pepper spray. Since applying the pepper spray, they have not eaten any. Not even a hoof print in the loose dirt. Lesson learned, and/or good memory..?? Maybe just the scent of the pepper spray deters them. I do know they uprooted several of the Jalepeno's.

And I have 2 pair of Red Fox denned up close, and took care of a lot of the baby Groundhogs & Racoon's, from the remains I found. Good carnivor..!!

CliffordK · Aug 3, 2013

Should one spray the pepper on the plants or the deer?

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TomSeller · Aug 3, 2013

Sunflowers are the first thing deer at my place eat. I like to grow sunflowers and the first year I did, the deer did not bother them. The second year one must have taken a liking to them and the rest is history. I have them behind deer-netting and electric fence now. Not nearly as nice to look at.

DJ54 · Aug 3, 2013

CliffordK said:
Should one spray the pepper on the plants or the deer?

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Both if necessary..., LOL...

DJ54 · Aug 3, 2013

TomSeller said:
Sunflowers are the first thing deer at my place eat. I like to grow sunflowers and the first year I did, the deer did not bother them. The second year one must have taken a liking to them and the rest is history. I have them behind deer-netting and electric fence now. Not nearly as nice to look at.

Maybe they need to acquire a taste for them. I guess I find out next year..!! Or maybe spray the sunflowers with the pepper juice..??

I'm between a 400 acre orchard, and around a 600 acre Metro Park, and they literally had path's through my now hay and pasture fields. Every evening just before dusk, a good sized doe comes out to feed on the neighbor's Honeysuckle thicket, within 100 yds. of my garden.

NS Gearhead · Aug 6, 2013

I've got 18 maples planted along my driveway between 1 and 6' tall. They've had their share of damage from deer. For the passed couple of years I've had tin pie plates hanging from string on redbar posts. This year one fell off it's string on a weekend I was away and four trees got damaged quite badly where it was. So I put it back up. I also heard that they hate Irish Spring soap so I cubed up enough to throw a chunk between the trees. No idea if it'll help, but for the price it was worth trying. I'm looking forward to the day these trees are big enough not to have to worry anymore. A couple grew a good 2' this year! : )

CliffordK · Aug 6, 2013

As far as sunflowers & corn,
last year I mixed them a bit in my garden. They left the corn (at least mature stalks) alone, and ate the sunflowers, even out of the middle of the rows.

Perhaps the idea is to plant the sunflowers as a sacrificial crop.

It doesn't mean they won't also go for tomatoes and other goodies in the garden.

They didn't seem to bother the squash and zucchini. Nor do they seem to like fig trees. They occasionally taste the rhubarb, but don't seem to do much damage to it.