You've identified a major obstacle: predation is a deal breaker. If your area suffers from a severe Monkey menace or is on the fringe of a forest with hungry birds, you must face the brutal reality: No amount of small-scale protection shall save your harvest from this determined menace.
The Brutal Reality Check
For the typical urban rooftop, there are two levels of threat:
| Threat Level | Examples | The Strategic Mandate | The Logic |
| Minor Threats | Crows, small birds, squirrels | Low-Hassle Netting: Use simple bird netting or mesh only during the fruiting/ripening stage. | This is a low-cost, low-effort method that offers marginal help and minimizes entanglement hassle. |
| Major Threats | Monkeys, Wild Birds (large flocks) | Accept the Loss, or Invest Substantially. | No amount of simple fencing works. Monkeys will tear through anything less than a permanent, secured enclosure. |
Export to Sheets
Reframing the Investment: Safety, Not Produce
If one chooses to go for the best protection (i.e., a full, permanent mesh enclosure of the entire rooftop), the high cost and hassle must be correctly justified.
The substantial investment in a permanent structure is not primarily for the vegetable garden's safety alone; it is fundamentally for your own needs—your safety, comfort, and security while working on the rooftop, and the peace of mind that your effort won't be wiped out in five minutes.
Conclusion: Do not engage in an expensive, futile war against serious pests. Either accept the minor losses, or understand that a major investment in security is a quality-of-life decision for the gardener, not a necessity for the plants.
