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thepodpiper

thepodpiper

Does anyone have an idea as to what may be munching the leaves of my pepper plants.



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Dale
 
Pam, the ones in that particular picture are at the bottom but they are all over the plants that are being eaten.

Dale
 
sorry Boags, I don't think it's cats :lol: unless they've only got one tooth or very oddly shaped ones

I agree with Pam, looks like snail/slug damage, in particular the main leaf looks to have some sort of residue as does the one on the right - a trail of some sort?

if you have some beer around the place leave some in a small bowl near the base of your plants, if they're snails or slugs you'll find a few drunk ones there in the morning. try a nocturnal hunt with a torch, chances are you'll find them munching your prized peppers.
 
thepodpiper said:
Will the snails actually slither up to the tops of the plants or do they usually stay near the bottoms?

Dale
Click to expand...

Yeah, slugs are more likely to stay near the bottom, that's not an absolute, however. Have you noticed any silvery trails near or on any of the plants? There are just so many things that will munch peppers, it's difficult to know sometimes.


Try the beer trick, or put a board, an empty egg crate, or even an upside down cantaloupe rind near the plants. Once the sun comes up they'll hide under whatever you put around the plants, you can turn it over and see how bad your slug population is and kill the nasty buggers.

If you don't see many slugs, you may have to try some sort of spray to catch the culprit. Or you can try one of the yellow sticky traps and see if you get anything.

Have I been thoroughly vague?
 
Pam, I am leaning more towards some type of flying culprit because on some of the plants the holes in the leaves are high up on the plant. I will try some sticky thingies first. i will also try the cantaloupe trick. Thanks

Dale
 
thepodpiper said:
Does anyone have an idea as to what may be munching the leaves of my pepper plants.
Click to expand...

I'd be curious as to what you find. I've had the same problem with some of my plants. Happens to top leaves as well as bottom ones. A slug or snail would be too heavy to reach the top leaves without the whole plant tipping down to the ground.

It's also happened to plants in my planter boxes, some of which are up 3 feet high.

Have you also found leaves cut off the plants? Looks like someone snipped them off with a pair of scissors. By the time I figured out it wasn't my kids (it was cutworms), it stopped happening.
 
Okay definately waiting for a pro answer on this one, I have damage that looks identical. In fact at first I wondered if you stole pics of my plants. :P
 
Okay I work for a co-op. I had an agronomist come by today and told me that my problem was definately aphids. Dunno for sure how I am gonna get rid of them, but the damage to my plants looks very similar to yours.
 
Can someone tell me when is the best time to catch them eating do they do it at night because I do not see anything on the plants during the day or are they just to small to see with the naked eye?

Dale
 
Okay here is how I caught mine. Hand magnify glass, camping lantern, 2 AM. Not kidding thats how I found out for sure. Now I just don't know for sure how to rid them. Evidently ants herd aphids onto plants.
 
I think that I will order some ladybugs and just let them go all over the garden and the front yard. They probably won't stay around long but it will increase the population around the house.

Dale
 
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