Anyone know how much sun gets through the nets you can use over fruit-trees to keep off birds? And do the nets work against possums? Thanks David
Nets I know that this is not what you asked, but I thought I would add it anyway. I netted our peach and apricot trees to keep the birds off. It seemed to keep the birds off but not the rats. They completely decimated the trees..... Darn Rats!!!!
nets yep - they work against possums, though they will nibble any foliage that pokes through the net. you can try an ultrasonic device, see https://www.arborco.com.au and follow links to possum control.
Well Scooter, you must have sooky la la possums at your place, the possums here just chewed thru my good nets to get the mangoes. Possums do more damage to our garden then all other wildlife put together!!
I wouldn't be worrying too much about reduced sunlight on your fruit trees, David. Most plants only use half the light hitting them between 10am and 4pm for photosynthesis. They can't use all of it, because they don't have enough chlorophyll in the leaves to process it. Photosynthesis decreases at higher light intensities ie: your plants will grow slower than they would with LESS light on them. Also temperature has an inverse effect on photosynthesis ie: the higher the temperature, the less photosynthesis will occur as the plant closes its stomatas to reduce water loss. Unless you can cool your plants down, they won't be able to use half the light they receive on an average hot summer day. One good way of assessing if they have enough light is to look at their shape. Tall and spindly = too little light Short and squat = too much light We also have way too much UV for plants to grow to their maximum, so unless your fruit trees are short and squat with very few leaves, I wouldn't be worrying too much about the netting having much effect on their ability to photosynthesise. sprite
Here are a few links which might be useful for rats and possums Controlling Rats in Fruit Trees https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW120 Controlling Possums in Fruit Trees using home made repellants https://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/002 ... /index.asp https://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestcont ... _prod.html Apparently also rubbing the trunk with blood and bone is a deterrent for possums!
Has anyone tried using chilli spray? I had possums eatting my sugarcane, down to the ground so I sprayed large amounts of my super hot birdseye chilli spray on them and added the pulp from the mix and nothing has ever touched them since. Be warned spray mist burns your eyes and will make you look really stupid as to stumble blindly around your orchard screaming ahhhhhhhhh. heh, you learn by your mistakes... I found 4m x4m nets at bunnings for $3 each (yeah yeah I know...)