Deer / Comparison
Bobbex vs Liquid Fence vs Plantskydd
The three deer repellents people actually compare, on what their makers publish. They differ on chemistry, on schedule, and on one claim where one maker contradicts the extension services — and that is the claim to read first.
Plantskydd is dried blood, odor-based, and publishes the longest stated duration and a concentrate yield. Liquid Fence is putrescent egg and garlic, scent-based, with a published once-then-monthly schedule and a coverage figure. Bobbex publishes a 7 to 14 day peak-season schedule, a 6 hour drying time and a temperature ceiling. They are three different bases, so the honest answer is two of them, alternated.
Three products, three chemistries
The reason to compare these three rather than any three is that they do not share a base. Plantskydd publishes dried blood — porcine and/or bovine — as its active ingredient. Liquid Fence publishes putrescent whole egg solids at 10.405% with garlic. Bobbex describes a formulation built around a sticking agent that the maker says will not wash off once dry; its site has referred to fish oil as the reason it becomes water-insoluble, and its label is distinct from both of the others.
That matters because of the one thing every extension source agrees on and no repellent label leads with: deer habituate. A repellent that is always the same smell becomes part of the garden. The way to slow that down is to alternate genuinely different chemistries, and these three are genuinely different. Rotating Plantskydd with a second blood-meal product is a change of label. Rotating it with Liquid Fence or Bobbex is a rotation.
What each maker publishes
| Plantskydd | Liquid Fence | Bobbex | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active base | Dried blood | Putrescent egg solids 10.405%, garlic | Proprietary; sticking agent, maker cites fish oil |
| Mechanism | Odor, before the animal bites | Scent — animals do not have to bite | — |
| Stated duration | Up to 6 months over winter; 3 to 4 months in season | — | Up to two months in dormant season |
| Schedule, growing season | — | Apply, repeat one week later, then approximately monthly | About every 7 to 14 days in peak growth |
| Schedule, intense feeding | — | Once a week for three weeks, then monthly | — |
| Rain | — | Rain resistant | Will not wash off once dry; 6 hours drying time |
| Temperature limits | — | — | Not below 35 F; above 85 F risks phytotoxicity |
| Concentrate dilution | 2.2 lb powder makes 2.5 gal | — | 1 oz to 8 oz water (spring/summer) |
| Coverage | — | Gallon covers up to 2,000 sq ft | — |
| Organic listing | OMRI Listed | — | — |
| Rotation | — | States it never needs rotating | — |
Each column has a gap the other two fill. Plantskydd publishes duration and yield but no schedule and no coverage area. Liquid Fence publishes a schedule and a coverage area but no duration. Bobbex publishes the most operational detail — drying time, dilution, temperature limits — and the shortest stated dormant-season duration. None of the three publishes everything, and a buyer who wants the full picture ends up reading all three labels anyway.
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Quick picks
Ranked, with the trade-off named. Tap a row for the full write-up; the price button goes straight to Amazon.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Plantskydd Powder Concentrate, 2.2 lb2.2 lb of powder makes 2.5 gallons, which is the format that makes a repellent program affordable instead of theoretical. | Best cost per treated area | $64.95 on Amazon |
| 2 |  Bobbex Concentrated Deer Repellent, 32 ozA concentrate rather than a ready-to-use bottle, which is the right format if you are going to spray often enough for a repellent to work at all. | Rotation partner, concentrate | $23.35 on Amazon |
| 3 |  Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent Ready-To-Use, 1 galThe gallon refill, which is the only Liquid Fence size that publishes a coverage area: up to 2,000 sq ft. Buy this and refill the trigger bottle. | The same formula at a published coverage figure | $23.47 on Amazon |
| 4 |  Plantskydd Ready-to-Use Liquid, 1.3 galReady-to-use and covering the widest published species list here: deer, rabbits, elk, moose, voles, squirrels and chipmunks from one bottle. | No mixing, widest species list | $79.95 on Amazon |
| 5 |  Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent Ready-To-Use, 32 ozPutrescent egg solids and garlic, scent-based, on a published once-then-monthly schedule. A genuinely different chemistry from Plantskydd, which is the whole reason to own it. | A third base to rotate against blood meal | Check price on Amazon |
| 6 |  Bobbex-R Rabbit, Squirrel and Chipmunk Repellent, 32 ozFormulated for the small raiders rather than for deer, which matters because the animal eating your bulbs is usually not the animal eating your hostas. | Rabbits and chipmunks specifically | $27.96 on Amazon |
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The picks in full
Top pick Best cost per treated area
Plantskydd Powder Concentrate, 2.2 lb
2.2 lb of powder makes 2.5 gallons, which is the format that makes a repellent program affordable instead of theoretical.
Published specifications
- Size
- 2.2 lb powder concentrate (published)
- Yield
- Makes 2.5 gal of liquid (published)
- Targets
- Deer, rabbit, voles
- Active base
- Dried blood meal
- Part number
- PSP-R2
Trade-offs
- Published yield, so cost per gallon is arithmetic rather than a guess
- Powder stores far better than mixed liquid between seasons
- The cheapest way here to cover a large garden repeatedly
- You have to mix it, and mixing is the step people skip
- Blood meal has a smell on application; downwind of a patio it is noticeable
Who it is forA large garden on a real reapplication schedule, especially through the spring browse season.
Skip it ifYou will not mix it. An unmixed concentrate protects nothing, and the ready-to-use is better value than a bag in the shed.
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Where these specifications came from
No. 2 Rotation partner, concentrate
Bobbex Concentrated Deer Repellent, 32 oz
A concentrate rather than a ready-to-use bottle, which is the right format if you are going to spray often enough for a repellent to work at all.
Published specifications
- Size
- 32 oz concentrate (published)
- Targets
- Deer, elk, moose
- Form
- Dilute and spray
- Part number
- B550100
Trade-offs
- Concentrate is far cheaper per treated square foot than ready-to-use
- A different active profile from Plantskydd, which is what makes rotation possible
- Repellents are a reapplication commitment: rain, new growth and habituation all reset them
- Mixing and spraying is a job, and the ones that stop working are usually the ones that stopped being sprayed
Who it is forOrnamental beds and shrubs where fencing is not acceptable, used on a schedule rather than in a panic.
Skip it ifYou want to solve this once. Extension services are consistent that a fence is the exclusion method and a repellent is a mitigation. Read what actually keeps deer out before you buy a spray instead of a fence.
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Where these specifications came from
No. 3 The same formula at a published coverage figure
Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent Ready-To-Use, 1 gal
The gallon refill, which is the only Liquid Fence size that publishes a coverage area: up to 2,000 sq ft. Buy this and refill the trigger bottle.
Published specifications
- Size
- 1 gal ready-to-use (published)
- Coverage
- Up to 2,000 sq ft (published)
- Active ingredients
- Putrescent whole egg solids, garlic (published)
- Mechanism
- Scent (published)
- Schedule
- Apply, repeat one week later, then approximately once per month (published)
- Rain
- Rain resistant (published)
Trade-offs
- Publishes a coverage figure, which most repellents in this category do not
- Refills the 32 oz sprayer four times, which is the sensible way to run this product
- Same schedule and chemistry as the smaller bottle
- Year-round application is published, so it is a winter option as well
- Still ready-to-use, so you are paying to ship water — Plantskydd's powder concentrate publishes a better yield per pound
- The 'no rotation needed' claim is on this label too, and it is the claim this site disagrees with
- A gallon jug is not a sprayer; you need the trigger bottle or a pump sprayer as well
- Squirrels are not on the label
Who it is forAnyone who has decided on the egg-and-garlic base and is treating more than a handful of plants.
Skip it ifYou want the cheapest cost per treated area. That is a powder concentrate, not a ready-to-use gallon, and the difference compounds over a season.
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No. 4 No mixing, widest species list
Plantskydd Ready-to-Use Liquid, 1.3 gal
Ready-to-use and covering the widest published species list here: deer, rabbits, elk, moose, voles, squirrels and chipmunks from one bottle.
Published specifications
- Size
- 1.3 gal ready-to-use (published)
- Targets
- Deer, rabbit, elk, moose, voles, squirrels, chipmunks
- Form
- Ready-to-use liquid
- Part number
- PS-5L
Trade-offs
- No mixing, so it is the one people actually reapply on schedule
- The species list covers the garden raiders as well as the browse animals
- 1.3 gal is enough to treat a real garden rather than a planter
- Ready-to-use costs considerably more per treated area than concentrate
- It is a blood-meal-based product and it smells like one for a day or so
Who it is forA mixed garden problem — deer on the shrubs, rabbits on the greens, chipmunks in the bulbs — where you want one bottle rather than three.
Skip it ifYou are treating a large area regularly. Buy the powder concentrate and mix it; the ready-to-use maths stops working quickly at scale.
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Where these specifications came from
No. 5 A third base to rotate against blood meal
Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent Ready-To-Use, 32 oz
Putrescent egg solids and garlic, scent-based, on a published once-then-monthly schedule. A genuinely different chemistry from Plantskydd, which is the whole reason to own it.
Published specifications
- Size
- 32 oz ready-to-use spray (published)
- Active ingredients
- Putrescent whole egg solids 10.405%, garlic (published)
- Mechanism
- Scent — animals do not have to bite to be repelled (published)
- Schedule
- Apply, repeat one week later, then approximately once per month (published)
- Intense feeding
- Once a week for three weeks, then monthly (published)
- Rain
- Rain resistant (published)
- Targets
- Deer and rabbits (published)
Trade-offs
- A different active base from Plantskydd and from Bobbex, so a rotation with either is a real rotation
- Publishes an actual schedule — once, again a week later, then monthly — rather than 'as needed'
- Scent-based, so it acts before the first bite rather than after it
- Ready-to-use in a trigger sprayer, which is the right format for a few hostas by the door
- The maker states rotation is never needed because aversion 'will never diminish' — extension services say deer habituate, and this site sides with the extension services
- Ready-to-use is the most expensive way to buy any repellent per treated area
- Putrescent egg is exactly as pleasant as it sounds for the first day
- Targets deer and rabbits only on the label; squirrels are not named
Who it is forA small number of high-value plants, and somebody who already uses a blood-meal product and wants a second base to alternate with.
Skip it ifYou are treating a large border. Buy a concentrate — cost per treated area is what decides whether you keep applying, and the trigger bottle loses that contest badly.
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No. 6 Rabbits and chipmunks specifically
Bobbex-R Rabbit, Squirrel and Chipmunk Repellent, 32 oz
Formulated for the small raiders rather than for deer, which matters because the animal eating your bulbs is usually not the animal eating your hostas.
Published specifications
- Size
- 32 oz concentrate (published)
- Targets
- Rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk
- Form
- Dilute and spray
- Part number
- B550120
Trade-offs
- Targets the species that deer repellents are not formulated for
- Concentrate, so a season of reapplication is affordable
- Same reapplication burden as every other repellent
- It will not fix a rabbit problem that a 2 ft buried fence would fix permanently
Who it is forBulbs, seedlings and container plants that rabbits, chipmunks or squirrels are working through, where a cage would be impractical.
Skip it ifThe damage is at ground level along a boundary. Colorado State Extension is specific: two feet of wire buried 4 to 8 inches is fairly effective against rabbits, and that is a permanent fix a spray is not. See rabbit fencing.
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The claim they disagree on
Liquid Fence's product page states: "Animals' natural aversion to this scent will never diminish — this product does not have to be rotated with other repellent brands." It is repeated in the listing as a feature.
We do not believe it, and we say so because it changes what you buy. Habituation to repellents is the standing finding of the extension services this site relies on, and it is why the deer repellent roundup recommends rotating bases. A maker asserting its scent is exempt is making a claim about deer behavior, not about its product, and it is not a claim we have seen supported anywhere outside the label. Buy Liquid Fence — it is a good third base — and rotate it like the other two.
Cost per treated area, as far as the published figures allow
This site shows prices only from its live price layer, so no dollar figures here. What the labels let you compare is how much spray you get, and that is the number that decides whether you keep applying.
- Plantskydd 2.2 lb powder: publishes 2.5 gallons of spray. The most spray per purchase of any concentrate here, and the reason it leads the roundup.
- Bobbex 32 oz concentrate: publishes 1 oz to 8 oz of water, which is 32 oz to 256 oz — two gallons of spray from the bottle, by arithmetic from the published ratio.
- Liquid Fence gallon: ready-to-use, so one gallon of spray, but the only one of the three that publishes what a gallon covers: up to 2,000 sq ft.
Plantskydd and Bobbex are close on spray volume from a concentrate; Liquid Fence is a ready-to-use product and loses on volume by design. Against that, Liquid Fence is the only one telling you the area, which is the figure you actually need and the other two leave you to estimate.
So which two
Plantskydd as the base, for its published duration, its yield and its OMRI listing, on a calendar of roughly three months in season and sooner on fast growth. Liquid Fence or Bobbex as the alternate, chosen on what you need published: Liquid Fence if you want a schedule and a coverage figure, Bobbex if you want drying time and a dilution ratio and are prepared to spray every one to two weeks in peak growth.
And none of them instead of a fence where a fence is possible. Michigan State University Extension calls exclusion the reliable method. Every product on this page reduces browse. Deer fencing prevents it.
Questions people actually ask
- Which is better, Bobbex or Liquid Fence?
- They publish different things. Liquid Fence publishes a scent mechanism, a once-then-monthly schedule and a 2,000 sq ft coverage figure for its gallon. Bobbex publishes a 7 to 14 day peak-season schedule, 6 hours drying time, a 1:8 dilution and temperature limits. Neither publishes a duration figure the way Plantskydd does.
- Is Plantskydd better than Liquid Fence?
- Plantskydd publishes a longer stated duration — up to 6 months over winter, 3 to 4 in season — a concentrate yield and OMRI listing. Liquid Fence publishes a schedule and a coverage area that Plantskydd does not. They are different bases, and the best use of both is alternating them.
- Does Liquid Fence really never need rotating?
- That is the maker's claim. Extension services are consistent that deer habituate to repellents, and we side with them. We would rotate Liquid Fence with a product on a different base, as with any repellent.
- How often do I apply Bobbex?
- The maker publishes about every 7 to 14 days during peak growth, up to two months between applications in the dormant season, 6 hours of drying time before rain, and no application below 35 F or above 85 F.
- Which deer repellent is organic?
- Plantskydd publishes OMRI listing by the Organic Materials Review Institute. Neither Liquid Fence nor Bobbex publishes an OMRI listing on the pages we cite.
- Can I use these on a vegetable garden?
- Read each label. Plantskydd is positioned for ornamentals and seedlings; Liquid Fence names gardens, flowers, shrubs, trees and vines. We would keep all three off anything you are about to eat, and fence the vegetables instead.
Sources
- Plantskydd, Plantskydd Repellent (manufacturer page)
- Liquid Fence, Deer & Rabbit Repellent Ready-To-Use (manufacturer page)
- Bobbex, When and How to Apply Bobbex Repellents (manufacturer page)
- Michigan State University Extension, Deer Barriers: Fencing, Repellents, Dog Restraint Systems
- Michigan State University Extension, How to protect your yard and garden from deer and rabbits
Read next
- The best deer repellents
Ranked on published yield and format, with an honest account of why repellents fail: reapplication, not chemistry.
- Plantskydd, reviewed on its published specifications
Dried blood, odor-based, OMRI listed, and a published yield that makes the powder the size to buy. The claims that are specs and the ones that are marketing.
- Spray vs fence vs device
Exclusion, mitigation and startle are three different jobs. Which method does which.
- How to keep deer out of the garden
Fence, repel, deter, replant — in that order, with the published height that decides step one.
- Deer Deterrence
Fencing at the height extension services publish, plus the repellents that fill the gaps around it.