Garden Pests and Diseases: Home-made Deer Repellant!, 1 by nmcnear

nmcnear wrote:
I've been trying to put some hardy shrubs on a barren hillside on the side of my house, but the deer have been eating and killing almost everything. I've only been putting plants that are supposed to be deer resistant, but the hooved rats around my house didn't get the memo, and eat even highly poisonous plants like Lantana. A few months ago I found a dead deer next to my driveway, and I think it was one of the ones that ate my poisonous plants every week (I think that because after it died, the plants were left alone for a while). But even if these foolish deer die, the damage to the plants is still done, so I'd like to prevent them from eating the plants in the first place. I've tried commercial repellents with no luck, so I decided today to whip up a batch of something meaner. The ingredients are as follows:

Eggs, chicken livers, habanero peppers, garlic, green onions, oleander leaves, euphorbia leaves, and dishwashing detergent.

I blended all these ingredients in a blender for several minutes, then mixed it with a gallon of water to give me a sprayable mixture. However, the spray bottle was still getting clogged with what little particulate matter remained, so I'm having to strain it before I use it. So far I've sprayed some new plants I'm going to put in the ground tomorrow, and hopefully it will work! I am especially mad with the deer today, since they pulled up and ate a HUGE, beautiful Dudleya farinosa I had just planted down there yesterday. Not just the leaves, but the entire thing including the woody stem! I don't think it has a chance of growing back, but I put the roots back in the ground and sprayed the stump with repellent just in case.

I'll keep this thread updated as to whether my mixture succeeds or fails.