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Strange holes in peppers, but leaves are all doing very well
- Thread starter SnowSailor
- Start date
I just went out (24 hours after putting down Sluggo) and almost all the Sluggo was gone. Something must have eaten pretty much all of it. It doesnt seem like birds would try to get through the wire fencing. I know on the box it says no more than 3 applications every 30 days but since its all gone and I dont think birds are eating it, should I put more down? I believe its safe for the plants themselves since the pellets are made of stuff that should be good for them. Im just worried about animals that might be eating the pellets.
solid7 said:
Is there a reason you shouldn't put more down more than 3 times in 30 days? Like does the soil absorb some of the stuff that kills the pests and it keeps them away? I'm just curious because I assumed if there weren't any pellets on the ground the new pests (or the ones that didn't eat the poison) would just crawl right back up the plant when they got hungry. I plan on following the directions but I'm just curious to know the reasoning behind them.
SnowSailor said:
I see the active ingredient is iron phosphate. It will eventually breakdown into its component substances. (Iron and Phosphorus) Those substances interact with the soil chemistry, and can have antagonistic relationships. (so it's like overfertilizing) Iron, coincidentally, in excess will lock out phosphorus. Pot growers seem to think that you can never have too much phosphorus, but that's just not true, either.
If they give you a prescribed dosage, it's for a good reason. If you think that it's unreasonable, test it on a sacrificial plant (like a big weed in your yard) first.
solid7 said:
One year I was using a copper fungicide on some tomato plants, that stuff has a strict application guideline because it doesn't break down in the soil. I was curious what would happen if the copper concentrations in the soil got too high, so I poured a VERY diluted mixture straight into a tomato plant container (which was on it's way out anyway) and within 24 hours the stem at soil level completely died and the entire plant was quickly followed.
So moral of the story, if there is an application guideline, follow it
I just put a barrier around my reaper plant. The Ghosts and Jalapeños are still unaffected. Hopefully this barrier prevents any insects from crawling up.
Also, dont ask why the image is upside down lol. Seems to be a bug with the site. I tried rotating it before re-uploading it but that didnt help. Guess youll just have to flip your monitors upside down
Also, dont ask why the image is upside down lol. Seems to be a bug with the site. I tried rotating it before re-uploading it but that didnt help. Guess youll just have to flip your monitors upside down
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Just an update: I havent found any more holes in my pepper plants since I put down the barrier. A day or two after the Sluggo disappeared, I found about 4-5 peppers with holes in them so whatever was eating them wasnt satisfied with the Sluggo. After 4 nights with the barrier, I found only a single hole but it didnt look like the others. Maybe it was from a bird.
SnowSailor said:
Yeah, I have found that for whatever reason, the birds have amped up their aggression, as of late. The offenders are young ones, that have recently left the nest. Not fully colored, remnants of pin feathers... But they are really starting to wreak havoc.
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Not really relevant, except that I just wanted to point out that birds really can be a pepper nuisance. Luckily, I've got too many pods, and I can afford to give a few to nature.
