Outdoor orchid's have nightmares of deer.

[Weebl]

I have had my run ins with snails, slugs, mealy bugs and spider mites. Nothing compares to deer though, when they will eat an entire season's growth and then some, in one evening. They seem to be particularly fond of my Dendrobium kingianum and the miniature Cymbidiums. Does anyone else have to deal with deer eating their outdoor orchids? Is there any way to deter them, or will I just have to plan accordingly and mount the orchids higher in trees?

[Baz in Oz]

Just about anything in .30 cal should be OK.

Baz

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by Weebl

I have had my run ins with snails, slugs, mealy bugs and spider mites. Nothing compares to deer though, when they will eat an entire season's growth and then some, in one evening. They seem to be particularly fond of my Dendrobium kingianum and the miniature Cymbidiums. Does anyone else have to deal with deer eating their outdoor orchids? Is there any way to deter them, or will I just have to plan accordingly and mount the orchids higher in trees?

Hunting season will just start here in Europe I could provide a few good recipes...

[stefpix]

Venison is really good... you's be indirectly eating yr kingianum.

what about getting some domesticated coyote or half wolf dog? german sheperd or whatever....
Once I was in California in Humboldt. This homeless guy resting on the plaza had a beautiful dog. "Not a dog, he is a wolf!" he told me...I am sure deers would not come.
Or can you buy puma urine or something like that?

[trdyl]

I feel your pain. I've had a few run-ins with squirrels.

[stefpix]

I had squirrells too... ate 3 of my 8 mango seedlings.

I wonder if squirrels can be controlled by feeding them...
just some peanuts in the same spot every day -
maybe they will just go to that spot and leave the rest alone.

or put a bunch of Opuntias around what you want to protect from them. deer may be quite harder.
somehow i like squirrels -
they are smart search for food and conserve it for the winter

[quiltingwacko]

I have used fine grained blood meal to deter deer with great success. Not on orchids though. On roses, tulips, tomato plants etc. I would no longer use it on vegetables, but it is very effective. It has to be reapplied after rain, and about every week or two to remain effective. I lived on a deer trail at the time. Blood meal has some nitrogen in it but not a great deal.

[Bird Song Farm]

You can find a number of products at Home Depot that will deter deer from eating plants.
I used one this year with very good results.
I would NOT spray the plants.....just around them, the bench or anything they are on.
Al

[angeleyedcat]

I definately feel your pain, we have different herds of at least 5 deer at a time in our yard constantly throughout the day and night. Yes, I've tried changing the "deer path route" with no success, there are way too many of them in the area, it's all a deer path. They eat everything (sorry, nothing is truly deer "resistant" especially with fawns) and not just the new leaves and blooms, they start there, then move up to eating the entire plant including the roots. Big rugosa rose thorns don't even deter them and are amazingly on their menu. My first experience with deer 20 years ago was them nibbling at my perennial garden (aww look at the cute bambis) One morning I got up and everything was gone, all of it, no plants at all. I even saw one eat a 2 foot datura, the deer was fine, yes, I can tell which one it was I see it often enough. Few here garden outdoors, except the crazy plant lady up the street with the deer netting mazes (that would be me).

Originally Posted by Baz in Oz

Just about anything in .30 cal should be OK.
Baz

Yes, some have met a planned demise. I've got a great recipe for venison sausage. But there are too many of them to eat them all! You need to get anything up above at least 10 feet, not kidding, don't be surprised tho if they still get to it. The only solution I've come up with is to use deer netting around all my plants, again, at least 10 feet. I use pvc pipe I painted green for my stakes. If you use garden stakes and can't find any long enough I attach 2 together to get the length. Also anchor the netting to the ground somehow, I use rocks, because they can try to squeeze underneath.

If the orchids are on trees possibly you could put a few layers of netting around the orchid and the tree it's attached to? Make sure to use enough layers of netting to make it annoying for the deer to get to (something to hold the netting away from the orchid - possible sticks? might be good to do). Also make sure that it won't fall off if a deer tugs on it hard and I mean hard.

"Scare Crow" (google online there are several brands) is a motion sensor sprayer hooked up to a garden hose that will startle and wet deer (and anything that walks in it's path including people) It was very successful, very annoying for my cats and husband, but they are quite expensive and I need way too many to get full coverage. It might be a good option for a small area.

I've also tried (unsuccessfully and in different combinations over the years lol - please note these things may work with just one or a couple of deer so they might be worth a try, I deal with herds and haven't had success) large amounts of used cat litter, boxes of fabric sheets, moth balls (I tried moth balls many years ago out of desperation but would not use them again because of their toxicity and don't recommend them), corn to distract them (just an appetizer to the buffet), a radio, spinning things that shine and make noise, noisy water fountains, a 4 foot tall windchime, urine and garlic sprays - these last 2 help but have to be applied every day here plus after rain/dew...way too many plants plus the deer have earlier hours than me and win. As quiltingwacko said blood meal does work too but again it has to be applied often. I spend days every spring preparing for deer. Good luck!

[Swamper]

Wow, Cat I got tired just from reading everything you have to do to ward them off. The image of your cat and husband was pretty funny though.