bugs, birds and critters

[Brambacher]

Any tips on how to keep birds, etc. from eating my strawberries? Any homemade sprays, etc.? They're in a container.

[Kisal]

Strawberries are usually protected by the use of bird netting. If the plants are in rows, use the same type of supports used for other row covers.

When your plants are in containers, you can devise some sort of support that will hold the netting above and away from the sides of the plants, so the birds can't reach the fruit. You might be able to fashion one from wire or wood. If you aren't handy at that sort of thing, use a heavy-duty wire cutter to cut a tomato cage apart. If you cut just above a ring of the cage, the new section(s) will have wire legs to stick into the soil to surround the plant.

To my knowledge there are no sprays effective against birds. You probably already know hot pepper spray is allegedly effective against rodents, and garlic sprays are allegedly effective against certain but not all insects. Sometimes one should buy and release insect predators among plants that need protection. If you're hoping for a "one shot" answer to the problem, I don't know of one.

[Brambacher]

Thank you for the information!!!