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So my house backs up to a golf course and on the fence I have a large grape vine. This is the first year that it was bearing fruit and my first and biggest bunch was becoming ripe and someone steals it.

It's not like I am the only person that has a grape vine growing on my back fence but I am very very unhappy. It does not look like rodent damage (which I am dealing with too right now) and it does not look like bird damage. The people that did it dropped a few grapes on the golf course side and left the stem there.

Do you guys have any ideas on how I can stop this the rest of the season? I am planning on putting in a large golf ball net and then my vine will be on the inside but until then I need a quick fix.

I could put some sort of net on the inside that would make it so that they couldnt reach their hands in but I don't really have anything and I don't want to spend a lot.

Needless to say I am quickly losing inspiration to keep gardening because of the rodents (which I have not been able to catch) eating my vegetables and people eating my grapes. As always thanks!

ReptileAddiction wrote:So my house backs up to a golf course and on the fence I have a large grape vine. This is the first year that it was bearing fruit and my first and biggest bunch was becoming ripe and someone steals it. Its not like I am the only person that has a grape vine growing on my back fence but I am very very unhappy. It does not look like rodent damage (which I am dealing with too right now) and it does not look like bird damage. The people tat did it dropped a few grapes on the golf course side and left the stem there. Do you guys have any ideas on how I can stop this the rest of the season? I am planning on putting in a large golf ball net and then my vine will be on the inside but until then I need a quick fix. I could put some sort of net on the inside that would make it so that they couldnt reach their hands in but I don't really have anything and I don't want to spend a lot. Needless to say I am quickly losing inspiration to keep gardening because of the rodents (which I have not been able to catch)eating my vegetables and people eating my grapes. As always thanks!

Electric fence would work real well! Not a real one but just a couple wires ran with a big sign Beware Electric fence to stop grape thieves! Make the fence look like a real one with the plastic stand offs and they will stay back! And a game camera would help deter them as well. Put the sign up you are on camera stealing grapes!

I am not sure if you can but a physical barrier is always te most effective no mater of the animal is a rodent or a rat of a golfer. In the past I have planted barrier plants either with a fruit that is not desirable or is and sacrifice it. Alternately thorn roses work beautifully assuming the golf corse won't remove them.

There are also motion detected water spraying set ups. Used to keep small to large animals away it is the same principle to keep people away. That said you may open yourself up to retaliation.

So it wasn't deer or other animals?
Bagging individual bunches of gapes might also help against insects and animals, and may emphasize the care you feel for the fruits as opposed to something "wild" growing on the fence at the back of #8 wooded runway (or whatever the golf term is). You could try just putting up a sign // Please Do not Pick the Grapes // -- though it would not help agains malicious people, but nothing would.

I've heard that capsicum is a great repellent for such animals eating garden produce...

applestar wrote:So it wasn't deer or other animals?
Bagging individual bunches of gapes might also help against insects and animals, and may emphasize the care you feel for the fruits as opposed to something "wild" growing on the fence at the back of #8 wooded runway (or whatever the golf term is). You could try just putting up a sign // Please Do not Pick the Grapes // -- though it would not help agains malicious people, but nothing would.

It is definitely not animals. It isnt golfers either it is the people that walk on the golf course in the evening. I think that putting a sign up might draw more attention to them than they already have. I might try putting like a little note on the top of each cluster so you wouldnt really notice it until you went to pick it.

I am pretty sure I would have the cops out here if they thought I put an electric fence up .

Put up a sign that states you sprayed a poison on them. You know one of those with the skull and cross bones.

Between the electric fence sign and the poison sign, I think the poison one might look more realistic. Unfortunately, I think the only real solution would be a physical barrier.

dash out onto the golf course and steal their golf balls.

then put up a sign that says ... "I will give back your golf balls - if you stop stealing my grapes!!"
Hahahahaha!!!

organicPete

That would peeve me pretty bad. Razor wire on the outside? Would be cheap if you don't need much. Build a trellis for it then you can move it to harvest.

I have a similar problem here. Not with grapes, but with bananas. The only solution that worked was to get rid of the bananas. I had fewer locks, fences, and gates broken when I just bought my bananas at the store.

It is hard to hide bananas when they are 25 ft tall. Everyone can see them when they have fruit. People will actually ask for the banana. It doesn't matter what your answer is. If they ask you need to harvest the banana immediately or it will be harvested for you.

I know some of my neighbors who have bananas and have not harvested a single bunch because of banana thieves. It takes 18 months for bananas to produce fruit.

If you build a barrier. you need to build one that hides the plants from view or make your barrier out of something no person in their right mind would try to cross. Got any poison ivy? It would take some time, but you could plant thorny plants like climbing or rambling roses, bougainvillea, dragon fruit, or cacti as a defensive barrier. Any thief would have to work hard to get through those. It takes a bit of armor just to keep them in their space.

https://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/g ... ub-fences/