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pests Bugs in my pods!

R

RingburnDave

Hey guys

Some of my habs are starting to fruit well and even ripen up a little, but a lot of my fruit are being attacked

They have one little hole in them, some of them drop and i've cut them open to find some of the seeds all rotten/eaten by something.

Any idea what I've got??
 
Yes, you have a big problem!!

Im sure someone here will know what the little buggers are. Here i was worried about aphids on my Tabasco!
 
Bingo...Pepper Maggots...one tiny hole...cut the pod open and you will find a little larva about 2-5 mm long that is eating your pepper from the inside out...

Most people may go yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkk...but as long as the pepper is fresh and I get the worm out, I still will eat them....the peppers that is...

I bet someone has eaten a pepper maggot on this board...
 
Alright, now you have established what is eating your peppers i am going to hijack the thread for a moment.

How do i kill the ant cows that are sucking the life from my precious plants? What do you guys use?
 
Aphids are easy to kill, even soapy water will kill them. Shoot, a good hard squirt from the hose will knock them off the plant. Most mild insecticides will take them out. The problem lies in keeping them from coming back, which is why I usually go with lady bugs.

You can also set up yellow sticky traps around the plants.
 
If you see one of these in the pod your in for a real headache.

Dale

DCP_0802.jpg
 
Novacastrian said:
Alright, now you have established what is eating your peppers i am going to hijack the thread for a moment.

How do i kill the ant cows that are sucking the life from my precious plants? What do you guys use?
Click to expand...

Neem. Hit the plants every week or two. Lately I've been mixing some foliar fert. in with the neem. Plants love it.
 
Ok thanks for the information Pam and Bent. I shall spray them with soapy water today and will invest in some neem and foliage feed when i am more fiscal. (getting paid monthly sucks hole)!

Back to you Ringburn, thanks for the use of your thread :P
 
Definitely pepper maggots. I got them last year, ruined all of my "fleshy" peppers - bells & jalapeno's mostly. They stay away from the thin-walled peppers, because the flies can't lay eggs in the meat.

You need to look for a tiny hole in your peppers, but more than that, you need to look for a TINY dot - it will look like a scab smaller than the size of a pencil tip, just a tiny brown fleck. That is where the fly injected the egg. If you see any of those tiny dots, bet dimes to dollars there's a maggot in the pepper.

This coming year I'm going to mosquito-net my plants.

Unfortunately, it's probably too late to "get rid of them." They're already in your pods. Either cut out the nasties, or throw away your pods.

Also... If you let them sit to ripen, it will be VERY clear what peppers have maggots. The area by the stem will be very soft and loose - like it's rotten. That's where they seem to like to eat most.
 
klyth said:
This coming year I'm going to mosquito-net my plants.
Click to expand...

How much are you paying for your mosquito netting? Do you have a good source? I have been pricing Tulle, it seems to be less costly.

Dale
 
Here's a couple pics to show you guys - i think i have something different.

chilli.jpg

This pod had a small hole near the stem- most other affected pods have holes in the side.

chili1.jpg

This is what most look like inside - lots of chewed seeds, brown gunk which looks to me like some kinda eggs/larvae.

Any ideas? I think I'm just going to find all pods with holes and get rid of them..
 
Ringburn, I would say cut one open that still looks good from the outside but has the tiny indent in it. I believe the maggot has already dropped out of that one.

Dale
 
OH Brother! That's heart-breaking! If you notice it on some pods does it imply that all the pods have it? Or can you cut away the infected ones and still expect to salvage some? I'm really sorry to see this happening to you Dave.
 
I just cut open one with the tinyest little dimple - it showed the same brown grit that others have but nowhere near as bad, but still no grub inside. Guess I'll go find all the pods with these little marks..

Thanks Prairie, I am also curious as to whether this is terminal for these plants or if I rid the plant of all affected fruit will the problem go away?

I have two ripe choc habs frozen which I'll need to check now to see if they're 'infected' hahaha.. don't want to eat all that brown crap :S
 
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