Trying to find a way to keep the crows and magpies off the fruit trees. I recall years back a cherry grower who used some spray which I think might have been this product. It is supposed to smell like grapes, which birds find repulsive. However it has both very positive and very negative reviews online.
Just wondering if any of the fruit growers here have tried it, and how it worked for you.
I am wondering why you want the birds to stay away from your fruit trees. In fact I have specially grown many fruits in my backyard to attract the birds. They like the fruits and increasing the beauty of my backyard. But if you really want to keep them away from your fruit trees, you can simply provide them bird feeders in your backyard. Usually, birds like to get their food from the garden feeders.
@Steve333. I mostly work alone covering up my fruit so whatever cover I use needs to go on and come off easily. Bird X was effective if installed properly but it was difficult for me to install and take off. The longer it is on the more limbs grow through the openings. With that said I use it on some of my muscadine vines effectively. I have found out through many mistakes is to leave it on for as short a period as possible. My grapes (muscadines) have worked out well but not perfectly. Putting the net on is fairly easy but requires extra care in removing it so the net can be used again and minimize damaging the vine. I use clothspins to close up the openings. Low cost but can be difficult to use.
That reads humorous to me as someone who has to net trees from birds at some sites to get any useful stonefruit. They even damage a lot of apples. Sweet cherries are bird food only at most sites, most seasons without nets although I’ve had mulberries deter them from late ripening types.
Thanks for the replies.
The problem I face here is the birds are constantly “testing” the apples. Even at the 1" size they will peck at them to see if they are ripe/good. And like many critters, they don’t just test one; they feel the need to test as many as they can reach. The damage varies year to year, but in a bad year I can loose 80% of the apples to birds.
I have tried netting (forget if it was the bird-x brand) and that was marginally effective. Birds still went for the apples, many got tangled in the netting and died, and the netting itself did quite a bit of damage due to how long it needed to stay on for and our winds. And I have too many big trees now to throw nets over them.
What I was considering was the Bird-X repellent spray (I think that is Bird Stop). Extracted from grapes and smells like them too. I was hoping some of the folks here had used it and could report. Online it has very mixed reviews, some love it some hate it. Since it only comes in a gallon for almost $100, I would like to hear from some fruit growers that it works before trying some.
Anyone have experience with Bird Stop?
I’ve not considered it after reading it washes off in rain.
I don’t. To me there are some birds that fall under the category of pests, in the exact same league as leaf rollers, aphids, and sawfly larva.
On the other hand I try to make pollinators and insect predators as comfy as possible. Seeing spiders, lacewings, and ladybugs probably makes me as happy as you seeing birds.
Birds don’t do enough damage to my orchard to require netting except on occasional years for my plums and every year to cherries, blueberries and black currants. It’s strange how at some sites I manage its impossible to harvest any stonefruit without nets and another a couple of miles away birds aren’t much an issue. I have a site where I didn’t even need to net blueberries this year.
Meanwhile, I lament that my single pair of bluebirds are no longer nesting on my property, but I’ve had a couple of swifts working it. Both of these species tend to prefer more than the 2 or 3 acres of open land between trees that my orchard and nursery offers.
I used a s[ray product called Avian Control a few years ago which contained a material that smelled like grape cool-aid. It was expensive so I did not spray the full rate on the Blueberries. It worked well the first time I tried it but not very well the second time. Never tried it on fruit trees.