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health Drying peppers, what went wrong?

the brown specks look like insect frass to me but its hard to tell in the pic.  I actually found a caterpillar inside a Peach G. Scorpion.  I dont know how happy he was but he WAS in there.  Its unlikely mice as the capsaicin  evolved to keep mammals from eating the pods.  ive never seen birds go after the larger pods either, but thats just my experience.  You dont need heat to dry peppers you need dryness.  PA summers are brutal often 90+ but the humidity is 100+ so peppers left out rot instead of drying.  Make sure you put some holes in the peppers so they dry inside and out.  If you string them this punctures the pods and keeps them up and out of the way.
 
Topsmoke said:
the brown specks look like insect frass to me but its hard to tell in the pic.  I actually found a caterpillar inside a Peach G. Scorpion.  I dont know how happy he was but he WAS in there.  Its unlikely mice as the capsaicin  evolved to keep mammals from eating the pods.  ive never seen birds go after the larger pods either, but thats just my experience.  You dont need heat to dry peppers you need dryness.  PA summers are brutal often 90+ but the humidity is 100+ so peppers left out rot instead of drying.  Make sure you put some holes in the peppers so they dry inside and out.  If you string them this punctures the pods and keeps them up and out of the way.
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Thats what I thought once.
But contrary to popular belief, they do. I can leave hot as well as super hot pods in my garage and the mice will devastate them. I can provide proof of this as I have found their calling card within the chowed pods.
 
CAPCOM said:
Thats what I thought once.
But contrary to popular belief, they do. I can leave hot as well as super hot pods in my garage and the mice will devastate them. I can provide proof of this as I have found their calling card within the chowed pods.
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calling card !      :rofl:
 
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CAPCOM said:
Thats what I thought once.
But contrary to popular belief, they do. I can leave hot as well as super hot pods in my garage and the mice will devastate them. I can provide proof of this as I have found their calling card within the chowed pods.
Click to expand...
did they "chew" the pods or were they decimated like those pictured?  I had a really dry summer and found some nibbles on my ghost peppers.  I was surprised how much they actually ate but they didnt destroy them like that.
 
Topsmoke said:
did they "chew" the pods or were they decimated like those pictured?  I had a really dry summer and found some nibbles on my ghost peppers.  I was surprised how much they actually ate but they didnt destroy them like that.
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They consumed them. I had a plate full of peppers chilling for a substantial period and they were literally gone. And calling cards :rofl: All over the plate.
 
Jeff is correct. They can eat HOT ones too. A field mouse stole my first reaper of the season in 2015. Pissed me off!! I surrounded my garden with about 50 mice traps. One even decapitated a 7 pot yellow too. I could see it's teeth marks on the little trunk too.
Use Parmesan cheese when you set your traps. It stays hard and doesn't melt. Cause of it's sent the mice find it quick.
 
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