How to Keep Rats From Eating My Tomatoes

Practice good sanitation to prevent the pests from entering your yard and damaging tomato crops. Collect plant debris, garbage and trash from around the tomato crop or your yard to reduce chances of rat infestations. Only provide your pet the amount of food it eats at each feeding, and store the rest in rodent-proof containers, to make the space less appealing to the rats.

Inspect all possible openings into the yard and seal holes larger than 1/4-inch to bar entry to the noxious pests. Plug openings or cracks in structure foundations, water pipes, sewer pipes and drains, drain sprouts and electric wires with wire screen or coarse steel wool.

Spread toxic baits or rodenticides over the area to kill the pests, according to label directions. The rats do not die immediately upon ingesting the poison, but it causes internal bleeding or disrupts their central nervous system within a few days. Mark the areas where you set bait so you know their locations.

Place rat traps around the vegetable patch to effectively control rat population damaging your tomatoes. Although a variety of traps are commercially available, use wooden rat traps for a simple, easy to use, and least expensive option. Use bacon, dried fruit or nutmeats as bait and set the traps in spots where evidence of the pests’ presence, such as visible damage to plantings or droppings, is observed.

Set commercially available enclosed rat baits in areas around the tomato patch if you have children or pets. The baits are designed to house rat poison. Place the baits in the same areas where you would have put the traps. Check the baits daily and replace whenever necessary.