Actually, I don't know whether this is the appropriate place to post this, but I could not find a fruit and berry forum. But I thought that there must be vegetable gardeners who have problems with birds attacking their veggies, so I'll try here.
I am looking for netting for blueberries. I have some old stuff that is falling apart, and I have a bunch of new blueberry bushes. DH has built a ricktey contraption with PVC pipes over which we could drape netting.
Does anyone have advice/experience with such netting? On the internet I found a couple of sites, that say they have 5/8" netting, but they don't say how thick the thread itself is, although the pictures look like it is quite thin, sort of like my old one (which I don't like too much, it is a little to light).
I would really appreciate some input from those of you that use such netting. both on source and ease of use (and price, LOL).
Many thanks,
C.
Bird netting
The fruit forum is here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/fruit/all/
I don't have much good experience with netting, myself.
I bought bird netting at Lowe's. I was going to use it for the blueberries, too. Never did put it on as I could not see anywhere that it looked to me as if the birds were getting into them.
Karen
Clementine, I got mine at Wal-mart. You can buy on roll or as a folded mat, pretty reasonably too!
I cover my blueberries with bird netting every year. I use PVC hoops set onto rebar that has been pound into the ground, then attach using garden clips. This is a fairly standard practice these days for many people. If you do a google search for garden clips, you should turn up several sources - however, they are somewhat expensive. They are reusable and last a long time. The net that I use is called deer netting around here. It is monofilament (black) and has a square mesh that opens about 3/4" squares. Do not use the triangular mesh which is specifically marketed as bird net. It is much harder to work with and hard to re-use from year to year. You will get much better results with the rectangular and can reuse it,especially if you are planning to spread it over a frame. You will need to use bricks or baoards or something to make sure the birds do not get under the edges. They (especially robins) can be really persistent and aggressive (I call them winged rats)
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1657/171
Birds have been banished from my small fruits for years. However, I still have a problem with jap beetles andfruit eating wasps destroying my berries. I have tried spraying, which is not very effective, as well as covering with spun poly insect barriers, which are impossible to see through and difficult to water through in a uniform manner. They also tear as you work with them to get in to harvest. I am going to try to replace some of my bird netting with fiberglass window screen. This lasts a long time and has reasonably decent light transmission. It's mesh is small enough to block the bugs that cause the most damage for me.
Hope this helps. The link above describes the clips and system that you can use.
some people have used tulle
L, do you know how long tulle would last out5side?
It is claimed that unsweet lime Jello mixed with water and
sprayed on any kind of fruit and berry will hold off birds. I
tried it on just some branches. I think it made a difference,
but I am not sure.
um - I hate to mention that a long black snake got itself
stuck in my bird net. I pinned it down and carefully cut it
out with manicure sissors.
Fitsy
I've used tulle as a row cover, and it lasts at least a couple of years.
I had a bird get stuck in netting once. While I was trying to cut it free, it kept biting me.
I read a very interesting article in Scientific American a couple of years ago discussing bird vision. They see into the ultraviolet spectrum a lot more than we do. Apparently certain UV colors are what trigger a lot of bird feeding on fruits. A lot of birds are not supposed to have much of a taste sense as well. When the fruits start to ripen, they change colors and some develop in the UV. That tells them the fruit is ready to eat. This is apparently a mutual genetic development between the birds and fruits to spread seeds. The fruits announce when the seeds are ready so the birds know to eat them so that the seeds get spread. Anyway, I can believe that the Jello would disrupt what the birds may see in the UV.
I too have had a couple of birds get stuck in netting. They were both robins. I used to like robins, but considering the tons of fruit destroyed by them over the years, I now think of them as winged rats. I dream of omelets made from blue eggs and don't mind if occasionally one gets stuck. Last year I had a young robin get under the nets of one of my gooseberry rows. I let it out, only to find it eating my consort black currents the next day, after finding another way back in. Greedy little beasts and quite persistent.
I remember the first time I had a goumi that produced fruit. I watched the fruits develop and was planning to net it, but the robins decided to strip it of all fruit the day before I was going to do it. The next year I got it covered earlier and got up one morning to find my poor bush surrounded by at least a dozen robins. They would dash themselves against the netting trying to get to the fruit, then shriek angrily when they could not get in. They kept at it for hours, until they finally got it into their tiny skulls that they could not get in. I'd not seen that kind of predatory stubbornness in birds before that experience and even had to go out to reinforce the netting at one point as they were starting to make some progress in creating an opening.