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one small hole in every pod

scrufy

scrufy

Ok guys, I need a little help.
I'm at work so no pics but I can post some later if needed.

Basically, I have a huge Moruga Plant that has around 30 or so pods.
Every single one has a small round hole in it towards the stem. They aren't ripe but I've pulled a few and opened them to try and find what bored its way in there.
All I find is black seeds and partially good pepper.
Any ideas?

I have squirrels in the yard, but my dog keeps them away from the peppers for the most part and I don't think they could bite a hole like this. Maybe they take a bite and nibble it until they hit the inside and get a taste of Moruga Capsaisin.. dunno.
Looks like bugs but nothing inside.

Oh, and it's only the Moruga Scorpion. I have 40 other plants that are fine.

Any help appreciated -

Thanks
 
Any pics of the damage? Could be many types of worms. I lost half a dozen annum's to Hornworms (Gypsy Moth larvae) a month ago, but those suckers are huge.
 
Hmmm, Id say watch your plants closely and see if you can spot the culprits! It could possibly be fruit fly larvae. How big exactly are the holes? pics?
 
Ok ill post some pics in the Morning. Leaves are intact and plant is huge and very healthy otherwise.. lush green too. No bugs I can find anywhere on the plant or in the pods.. weird.
 
if the leaves are intact, unlikely to be caterpillars (though that was my guess initially) - back when I worked on an organic farm the biggest culpret of pinprick holes were either stinkbugs or fruit worms (tomato fruit worm I think they're called) - they leave dark, almost black pin-prick holes.

Couple solutions for it, one being harmless, free and surprisingly effective: spray the plants/fruit with a jet of water from your hose. Wash down all the fruit. this knocks the bugs off pretty effectively. Then you'll want to do this every day for ~1 week (depending on outside temperatures) so that you knock off the babies when they hatch, thus interrupting the gestation cycle.

If it's stinkbugs or tomato fruit worms (or another worm of some sort) this should do the trick.

If it doesn't you can always step it up a notch to a "Safer brand Soap". The potasium salts in the soaps kill off the bugs - forget how exactly - something to do with removing part of the insect's protective waxes, leaving them to dry out and get cellular damage & die. The nice thing about insecticidal soaps is that they're nontoxic to humans and wash off the fruit really easily leaving no taste.

good luck!

ps - you can use any insecticidal soap - I just always had good results with Safer. Didn't mean to shill for any particular product.
 
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