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Caterpillar Damage

FireEater101

FireEater101

So I planted my pepper plants that I bought as seedlings almost 4 weeks ago. This being my first true year for growing I am learning each day about this fun hobby. A few days ago I noticed that my Cowhorn pepper plant was showing leaf damage chunks of leaves were gone and holes in places as well. I tried to take a look at the plants but honestly didn't see anything to attribute the damage to and was not sure what caused it. Well tonight on one of my many evening checks on my garden I suddenly noticed as I got my nose really close to the top of the plant a nice green creature. Boy he was camouflaged really well!! I grabed some pliers and removed the creature and got rid of him for good. I can only attribute the damage to him eating the leaves. Yes I know he needs food to survive too or at least he did. I thoroughly checked the plant from ground to tip under and over the leaves and didn't see any additional caterpillars. I will be keeping a close eye for any others he really blended in well. The plant itself is showing many new buds which I believe in my beginner knowledge might be the emergence of peppers. Anyways if this is not a caterpillar someone let me know but I felt like I learned something new tonight and wanted to share. Sorry if pics are not crystal clear I took them around 8pm and it was starting to get darker out in the garden. I thought caterpillars were all nice and fuzzy...I think I guessed wrong.

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Yup gotta really keep an eye out for them when it heats up.... Especially in the afternoons, you can find em strollin your plants leaves..
 
Portuge said:
Yup gotta really keep an eye out for them when it heats up.... Especially in the afternoons, you can find em strollin your plants leaves..
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Thanks Portuge!! I will definitely do that now that I understand how well they can hide. It has yet to really heat up here but it is getting close. When it does I will especially be looking closely. Thanks for the feedback.
 
As an experiment, just lay the duct tape down on your soil surrounding your plant and this should stop any bug from climbing up the stock of your plant....But this method doesn't pertain to flying insects or other bugs that fly...
 
Notice the plants were grown in peat pots. Tear any of the pot that is above the ground off, it acts like a wick and the plant dries out supr fast when it warms up. It's a good idea to tear the peat pot off, they just don't seem to decompose that fast, the roots some times are unable to break through it, you end up with dwarf or dying plants plants. I learned the hard way.
 
farmerdoc said:
Notice the plants were grown in peat pots. Tear any of the pot that is above the ground off, it acts like a wick and the plant dries out supr fast when it warms up. It's a good idea to tear the peat pot off, they just don't seem to decompose that fast, the roots some times are unable to break through it, you end up with dwarf or dying plants plants. I learned the hard way.
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Thanks farmerdoc! I did break the bottom half of the peat pots of this pepper plant and the other 14 plants I put in the ground to expose the roots. I will have to pull out the tops and get rid of them too. I never realized they could contribute to drying them out as well. Thanks for the help!
 
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