Homemade Deer and Rabbit Repellent

[andy10917]

I've come to the conclusion that I've got a homemade formula for keeping deer and rabbits from eating bedding plants like hosta, tulips and lillies. It imitates the ingredients of several of the better commercial products, as well as following the rather-impressive research of Auburn University.

If you look at the ingredients of many of the commercial products, you will find several of the following ingredients:

Putrescent Egg Solids
Garlic
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Benzoate

A gallon of the commercial products goes for around $30 around here.

So, let's look at the ingredients:

Putrescent Egg Solids: Uh, yeah. Fancy name meant to make it hard to realize that we are talking about rotten eggs. Really.

Garlic: Yes, plain old garlic.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: Very impressive sounding. It's the stuff that's in shampoo, toothpaste, etc. It's a surfactant, meant to spread it out on the leaves and make it stick a bit. Other than that, it does nothing to keep deer and rabbits away.

Sodium Benzoate: A perservative, meant to keep it from growing mold while it waits for you to buy it at the store. No other purpose.

Some products add Capsaicin (the active ingredient in Cayenne Pepper) and/or Milk. While the Capsaicin is OK, the deer have to eat the leaves to taste it and be repelled.

Don't look at me to tell you to tell you what makes it cost $30. You already know the answer.

By figuring the percentages of what's in the bottles, we can determine about how much of each ingredient that we need to be similar in strength. I went higher in each that is needed to make my homemade product.

Here's what you'll need:

1 Qt of Water
1/2 Cup of Milk (makes it go sour faster)
6 eggs
2 Tbsp of Garlic (the cheap diced stuff at the grocery store is great)
3 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper powder

Boil the water. Throw in the garlic and boil the combination for 10 minutes. Add the milk (it will curdle right away). Add the Cayenne Pepper. Boil and stir for 5 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Pour the entire mixture into a blender (divide it up if the blender is smaller). Blend it on High Speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, and blend for 3 more minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth into two empty 20-oz water bottles. This is the concentrate. Store it outdoors as long as temperatures are greater than 50 degrees. Its best if the bottles are stored uncapped for the first 24 hours, but OK if you cap it.

It will last several months that way. When you want to use it mix one of the 20 oz bottles into two quarts of water and 2 oz of dishwashing liquid and spray it onto plants. It stinks, but is OK after it dries. Touch it up after major rainstorms. If you like, after it dries you can spray Wilt-Pruf over it to make it last much longer (don't put Wilt-Pruf on "blue" Hostas - it will harm the natural wax).

I've had zero deer or rabbit problems with the latest formula. It costs about $2 to make 1-1/2 gallons.

[gardeningmom]

Hi!
I found this recipe and was excited to try it. I hit a snag at mixing in on high for three minutes - it all turned to foam and overflowed the food processor. (Think meringue!) I have it sitting in big bowls now hoping it recedes but did I do something wrong? Should I have put the shell in too? Was letting it cool for 15 minutes not enough. I really want this to work.

Thanks for your help.

[andy10917]

Never had that problem. But here's a warning: this stuff works, but I moved away from it (ran away?) because while it drives the deer away, it also drives the humans (including you) running for the hills. I've spent time on a different angle (that has some prior research behind it), but I'm not ready to say it's ready for primetime yet.

[gardeningmom]

Good to know! The sort of foamy mess is curing out in the backyard - maybe I'll just dump it at my treeline and keep the deer in the forest where they belong? I for sure don't want to stink up my flower beds with this stuff if it's so bad...

[andy10917]

The best commercial product that I know is Liquid Fence (get the concentrate, not the RTU). It works well, just gets expensive on an acre+.

[gardeningmom]

Agreed. Was trying to replicate that and the rotten eggs in your recipe is what gave me hope. Isn't that the stuff that lists putrescent eggs as an ingredient?

Have you tried Milorganite? Interesting web info on it's use as a deer repellent. I work in a garden center and my co-workers and I are always interested to watch people desperately spend their money to replace their plants after it's too late. Or confidently spend it up front on their tried and true method...only to come back and say it didn't work this year.

[andy10917]

Have you tried Milorganite?

Ummmmm, yeah I think I've used a little Milorganite once or twice around the yard.

(Somebody clue Gardeningmom in as to whether Andy has ever used a little Milorganite)

[BoatDr]

Gardeningmom,
Rumor has it that some estranged members here apply "Vitamin M" at double the bag rate....weekly.

No Typo, you read it right.


- Sent From My Sandlot.

[gardeningmom]

Nice...greenest lawn for miles but do the deer hate it twenty-five times as much?

[andy10917]

Like most things, the deer get used to it over time. It's a good part of an overall approach to discouraging deer, but won't work alone reliably.

[gardeningmom]

Good to know. Thanks.

[mattya]

Have you found this to work on arborvitaes? My dad is ready to pull his out because the deer eat 75% of them, even though he really doesn't want to expose the woods behind them.

[andy10917]

No, I don't know, for a simple reason: I hate Arbor Vitaes.