Rabbits are persistent garden pests adept at finding and consuming tender vegetation, often causing significant frustration for vegetable cultivators. When damage appears on developing tomato plants, gardeners often question if rabbits are the culprits. This article confirms the potential threat rabbits pose to tomato plants and provides actionable strategies for protecting your harvest.
Do Rabbits Consume Tomato Plants?
Rabbits consume tomato plants, primarily targeting the softest, most accessible parts, especially young plants. They readily eat tender new growth, leaves, and smaller stems. A young tomato seedling can be completely destroyed by a rabbit in a single feeding session before it establishes itself.
Tomato plants belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceae), and their foliage contains solanine, a glycoalkaloid toxic to rabbits in large quantities. While the bitterness usually deters rabbits from consuming enough to cause severe harm, they still pose a threat to the plant’s structural integrity.
Rabbits are less likely to consume the actual tomato fruit, especially when it is green and firm. Fruit is typically targeted only when ripe, soft, or fallen to the ground. The main concern remains the destruction of the leaves and stems, which hinders photosynthesis and prevents fruit development.
Identifying the Culprit: Signs of Rabbit Damage
Identifying rabbit damage requires observing specific feeding habits that differentiate them from pests like deer or groundhogs. Rabbits lack upper incisor teeth, so they clip vegetation cleanly rather than tearing it. This results in small stems being severed with a sharp, 45-degree angle cut.
Deer, conversely, leave a ragged, torn appearance on stems because they pull and twist the vegetation. Rabbit feeding typically occurs low to the ground, targeting the lower leaves and stems of tomato plants. They prefer to feed near the perimeter of the garden or close to dense cover, allowing for quick retreat.
The deposition of droppings near the feeding site is another specific indicator. Rabbit droppings are small, round, firm pellets often scattered in groups. Finding these pellets alongside the characteristic clean cuts on the plant stems confirms a rabbit infestation.
Effective Methods for Protecting Tomato Plants
The most reliable strategy for protecting tomato plants involves physical exclusion, creating a barrier the animals cannot penetrate. Fencing is highly effective, but it must be constructed correctly to account for a rabbit’s ability to jump and burrow. The fence should be at least two feet high, which is generally sufficient to prevent rabbits from simply hopping over the barrier.
The mesh size of the wire used for the fence should be no larger than one inch. This size ensures that adult rabbits and young kits cannot squeeze through the openings to reach the plants. Critically, the bottom of the fence must be buried at least six inches into the ground and bent outward in an L-shape to prevent the rabbits from burrowing underneath the barrier.
If constructing a full garden fence is impractical, individual tomato plants can be protected using wire cages or cylinders. These small enclosures should completely surround the plant, extending slightly above the expected height of the tender lower leaves. The cage must be firmly staked into the ground to prevent the rabbits from pushing it aside to gain access to the plant.
Repellents offer a secondary layer of protection, although they are less consistent than physical barriers. Commercial repellents often use ingredients like putrescent egg solids or predator urine to deter rabbits through scent and taste. These products must be applied directly to the foliage and require reapplication every few weeks or immediately after significant rainfall.
Some gardeners utilize natural or DIY repellents, such as sprinkling dried blood meal around the base of the tomato plants. Blood meal provides a temporary deterrent due to its strong odor, but it washes away easily and must be reapplied frequently. Reducing nearby brush piles, tall weeds, and overgrown areas also helps, as rabbits use this dense vegetation for cover and safe passage into the garden.