Do deer eat kidney beans?

Do deer eat kidney beans? When cultivating kidney beans, it’s essential to know which pests and diseases to look out for. If you live in an area with a high deer population, it is vital to keep them out of your plants.

Kidney beans are not quite challenging to grow as long as you take great care of them. Like other bean varieties, you can also grow kidney beans as vines, poles, or bushes. So, there are diverse types that can fit with your allocated space. But it would be best if you looked out for pests and diseases that can target kidney beans. While beetles, slugs, cutworms, aphids, and leaf hoppers are on one end, deer, rabbits, and squirrels may take up the other end. So, you may wonder – do deer eat kidney beans?

Deer and Kidney Beans

Deer can eat kidney beans, although not as a first choice. They will most likely feed on the young plants, eating off the shoots, vines, and buds. When your beans are fully grown, they may nibble on the bean pods if they cannot find other more palatable choices. This significantly depletes your harvest yields. Therefore, it’s more diligent keeping them out of your garden for good.

How to keep deer out of your kidney beans

Fencing

You can effectively keep deer out of your garden with an 8 to 12-foot high fence. A fence made from wood should be enough but is usually expensive. You can also opt for a woven fence or an invisible fence made from deer netting. Electric fencing is yet another option if your local laws allow it. Whichever you choose, consider the height, weight, and strength of your fence seriously. For instance, if you decide to use an invisible deer fence, make sure a spooked deer will not find themselves entangled in the wire. On the other side, if you opt for an electric or wooden fence, make sure it is strong and high enough. Your wall should also be firmly rooted into the ground to prevent deer from trying to crawl underneath.

Scare tactics

Deer dislikes surprises, so you can install measures to scare them away. You can choose between visual or noise deer deterrents. Good examples of visual barriers include motion-activated lights or water sprinklers. However, you shouldn’t use water sprinklers because your kidney beans do not need too much water. Noise blasts from radios can also do a good job. However, if you are using scare tactics, you need to alternate between tactics every week to keep them uncertain and out of your garden.

Repellents

Repellents are also a great way to keep deer out of your garden. Although you can choose between taste and odor repellents, we recommend using both at a time. Still, you need an alternate mix, so you can change the sequence every one or two weeks to keep them from becoming familiar with the repellent. Repellents also require consistency to work. So, you need to reapply every few days or each time it rains or snows.

Concluding thoughts

Do deer eat kidney beans? Yes, they do, although not as their favorite dinner. However, deer can eat the vines, shoots, buds, and bean pods when hungry enough. This clearly shows the need to stop them from going into your garden in the first place. There is no one way to keep deer out of your gardens completely, but you should combine strategies to make the most impact. Use these strategies on our list to protect your kidney beans, and you can look forward to a merry harvest free of deer troubles.

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