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Leaf Cutting Bees Destroying Pepper Plants

ultravista

ultravista

The majority of my young pepper plants have been desimated by leaf cutting bees. What were once healthy and growning plants are now stubby little stems devoid of all leaves. The plants are in pots. Many were one to two feet tall, full of leaves, flowering and fruiting. Now nothing.

I first noticed a few plants "missing" leaves that were there a day before, now nearly the entire stock, about 15 plants, are bordering on death with zero leaves.

Has anyone had this problem with seedlings? If so, what do you do?

This really angers me. I started the majority of these plants from seeds back in February and the others I bought from the Chili Woman. The only two alive are Thai peppers grown from seed.

From what I have red, the peskly little bees don't "kill" plants, they only take a few nibbles out of each leaf. Sadly this is not the case. After the nesting period, the bees stop their activity.

Now that my plant stalks are barren, is there hope that they will put leaves out again? I doubt I will get any peppers this year.

How can I control these pepper killing plants? I am very angry ...
 
Wow, that sux. :(

You'll be surprised how quickly they will put out new growth, just decrease the amount of water you give them and make sure not to get them too wet. Without leaves they won't use much water.

Good luck with their recovery.
 
I am going to do my absolute best to kill every little flying creature eyeballing my plants. I've got roses, tomatoes, and a ton of non-pepper plants. With exception to the roses, these freakin pests only hit my peppers.
 
These bees may be making nests in your roses, or possibly roses next door. I have been observing a bee continuously bringing cut leaves and pollen to the bottom of one of my potted habanero plants. It delivers the leaf to the same hole in the bottom of the plastic pot. This is the first time I've seen this kind of bee. I started researching it and found that they supposedly cannot be eliminated by pesticides, and it is recommended to cover the affected plants with cheesecloth. I also read that they commonly use roses as their place to make nests, so check your roses. Good luck.
 
The odd part is the roses are in the front of the house and peppers in the rear (not mine - the house). The roses too are notched heavily from the leaf cutters. What can I cover the plants with? Being in Las Vegas, and dealing with the 1000 degree temps during the day, what would be an effective cover that would not trap the heat?
 
Probably cheesecloth, air can get through it. I watched a bee use the exact same path at least 50 times over several days. It went across my yard and to the neighbor's yard every time. It was fun for my daughter and I to watch because it was not doing any damage to my plants.
 
Can I get a bolt of cheese cloth at Joann fabric? If draped over the plants, won't the bees just fly under the cloth or through an opening to get to the plant?
 
Put 4 long sticks 90 deg. apart around the pot and tent the cheese cloth tying it too the lip of the pot. This will totally enclose the plant cutting off access to the bees. Cheers
 
I hope these little pepper killers are done nesting soon. With any luck, the stems will put out leaves but the damage has been done, the plants will be stunded and I doubt I'll get any fruit. What was once 6 to 8 inches tall is now 2 to 3 inches and chewed off at the top.
 
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