Just in case anyone was wondering deer apparently do not like tomatoes. At least not when they have better stuff around like clover,corn and sorgum. Our garden is overflowing with tomatoes so I threw a bucket out in front of my camera. Don't think a single one has been eaten and they have been there a week.

Useless info I thought I would share.

Scientific Name
Lycopersicon esculentum
Common Name
Tomato

TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN.











Characteristics


Family
Solanaceae
Plant Description
Annual herb, strong-scented; leaves alternate, simple but deeply pinnately lobed and toothed; flowers 5-parted, yellow; fruit a red or yellow berry.
Origin
South America.
Where Found
Landscape in vegetable gardens, cultivated for fruit.
Mode
Ingestion
Poisonous Part
Leaves and stems.
Symptoms
Headache, abdominal pain, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory and respiratory depression, loss of sensation.
Edibility
EDIBLE PARTS: Berries (tomatoes) edible when unripe (green) or ripe (red), and raw, cooked, or dried.
Toxic Principle
Glycoalkoloids: solanine and demissine.
Severity
TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN.

Try a little salt and salad dressing on them.......

My neighbors had trouble with deer eating their tomatoes during the severe drought we had a few years back. It was the only time they had problems with the deer eating them. There wasn't much else around for them to eat!

I don't know of anything in a garden that deer won't eat. Maybe squash, but I'm not sure about them.

They may not like tomatoes but they love 1/2 runner green bean vines

One year when we lived in Virginia we never got a tomato off of our 6 plants. As soon as a small green tomato would get about to the size of an Aggie marble it would disappear, and a very neat set of deer tracks would be the only evidence of the crime. Maybe that doe had some mayo and white bread back in the thickets.

We have never had problems with the deer and the tomatoes ... they love everything else though!

I used to hunt on a farm that grew commercial veggies for the market. The tomato's were the biggest attraction, deer would walk past corn and alphalfa to get at the tomato's. They seemed to be eating the leaves though, not the fruit.

I guess it depends on the deer, since some folks have said they don't have problems. I have a 6ft fence around my small garden now. I have seen them eat just about everything, other than hot peppers.