Something is eating my bell pepper plants over night. It has not touched my tomatoes, squash, jalapenos, or cucumbers. I also have pictures of the poop it left under the plant.
Hardiness Zone: 7a
By KIM from Suffolk, VA
Is this a trick question? There is a picture of a tomato worm on the plant. It is being eaten by a tomato worm, just pick it off! Check your plants daily for these worms, you will notice little black pellets (poo) on the leaves below the caterpillar.
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I have a bunch of pepper plants and something is eating the leaves of off. I can never find the culprit, I think it happens at night because I never see any bugs or worms on my plants, I have tomato plants right next to the pepper plants and they are untouched.
What could be doing this, I was thinking slugs and snails? So I put out a bowl of beer last night and found only two in the bowl this afternoon.
Slugs and snails will leave a "trail" but it is always a good place to start. We grow all kinds of peppers and sometimes it is very difficult to find what bug is causing the damage.
The 2nd thing we use Turmeric and this is very effective against many common garden bugs. We use this in a spray (2 Tbs to a quart of water).
It will take some constant watching and doctoring to remove these pests. I believe you may have flea beetles but I cannot name all the bugs so maybe one of these web sites will be of help. Most pepper plants can be treated in the same manner.
www.helpfulgardener.com/
www.gardeningknowhow.com/
Judy is correct about using Insecticidal soap which I had forgotten because I generally try to use home stuff first. I do have a link that we use to make our own soap but you will need to purchase some Castile soap to make this. (If none of this works you might want to to try Neem oil/spray. None of the mentioned remedies are toxic so they are safe to use on edible plants.)
I have a young banana pepper plant growing in a pot on a patio garden. However, almost all the leaves have some damage from something (I am guessing a pets/insect of some sort). My other plants, including a tomato, are unaffected.
I have treated it with the recommended pest control, but I am wondering if I should prune the damaged leaves/stems or leave them alone. I appreciate any advice.
You can try to prune it back and see how it goes. When we grew these in the garden one year we had this issue from under watering...little rain that season and the human in charge (me) forgetting to water.
Ours did not come back...but since this one is in a pot and a more controlled situation, perhaps you can bring it back.
Post back with updates!
This may sound a little scary, to make this plant healthy. You will need to take a clean pair of scissors and cut just below the Y section of your plant in a angle, this gives better water run off and free the plant of disease,Or if you want to take baby steps, snip off the new growth of the plant.Then water with sun!(You can snip off the eaten leaves after this plant is healthy and you see more thickness/growth.Good Luck
First off something is eating the leaves of the plant. You can start off with a very mild laundry soap that is safe for the environment. You will add just a small amunt to a spray bottle and fill the rest with water. Spray the top and bottom of the leaves. Do this every few days. You need to be careful right now to not cut too much of the pant back and allow it to get some new growth.
Dead and damaged plant parts should be removed.
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Something is eating the leaves off my hot peppers in my garden. What could it be?
What is eating the leaves of my pepper plants? It seems to happen overnight and the leaves seem to be taken as if with a scalpel.
