Pepper damage!

S

seussiii

Sooooo I'm stumped! I tried to do some investigation and didn't come up with much. No better place to come than here for answers. 
 
Some of my peppers are being eaten and I can't quite figure out what the culprit is.
 
My best guess is flea beetles because of the round holes INSIDE the leaf surface but I keep a pretty good eye on my plants and literally have NEVER seen any insects on them. (other than some cutworms that got them very early on in the season) 
 
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Pretty sure that this last one is a caterpillar since (from what i understand) they eat from the outside of the leaf in but this one seems to be the exception.
 
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Looks like normal damage you can't protect them 24/7 it's ok of they are a bit rough on some leaves. It appears the plants are healthy otherwise
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Many times but not always holes on the inside of leaves can be snails or slugs. 
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Right there ^
 
That is typical slug/snail damage.
 
They come out when you're sleeping.  Put some rings of copper around the base of your plants, and watch it stop.
 
Yeah could be slugs I wouldn't be worried about them unless they go on rampage and start eating lots of leaf tissue, Then you could use some protection methods, you are able find lots of tutorials and people explaining how to set up slug traps and way to get rid of them :)
 
Appreciate it. I'll keep an eye out for em. I was a little reluctant to point the finger at slugs / snails. Just haven't seen them here in NW FL like I have in other states. No slug trails or even snails from what I've seen while gardening here.
 
Beer trap might work to at least trap some.... then I can hold a trial....lol
 
Slugs were my problem. Plants looked that same as yours. I looked closely and saw trails leading from the stems. Copper rings or copper tape works pretty well. And as mentioned above, they always come out at night, so you won't likely catch them in the act. I also create a border line of that black liquid slug killer stuff... deadline? Anyways, good luck!
 
 
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Go out late at night and have a look. I had similar damage last year and thought for sure slugs. Set beer traps and never caught one slug but the damage kept getting worse. Turns out it was Asiatic brown beetles. Just a little innocent looking brown beetle or so I thought. They only feed at night. Took me forever to figure it out.
 
Scorched said:
Go out late at night and have a look. I had similar damage last year and thought for sure slugs. Set beer traps and never caught one slug but the damage kept getting worse. Turns out it was Asiatic brown beetles. Just a little innocent looking brown beetle or so I thought. They only feed at night. Took me forever to figure it out.
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Yea sounds like I just need to do a night OP...
 
 
also I just googled it after you mentioned "Asiatic brown beetles"...
 
I have seen 3-4 of these larva while prepping the beds... Looked very similar.
 
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seussiii said:
 
Yea sounds like I just need to do a night OP...
 
 
also I just googled it after you mentioned "Asiatic brown beetles"...
 
I have seen 3-4 of these larva while prepping the beds... Looked very similar.
 
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those are grub worms,turn into the june bugs. they will destroy a lawn for sure. they eat the roots of plants. i you have more than 1 per sq.ft. you have a problem. a few here and there is ok because they tunnel the dirt like worms.
 
I get June bug grubs in my lawn. Similar looking to that picture, but a little less dark parts. And possibly bigger. They make good fertilizer when squished.
 
 
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Better to have a little foliage damage like that than aphidocalypse. Go with peoples suggestions here but don't fret too much. Not too long from now they will be putting out new growth faster than those buggers will munch .02
 
Spicy Mushroom said:
Better to have a little foliage damage like that than aphidocalypse. Go with peoples suggestions here but don't fret too much. Not too long from now they will be putting out new growth faster than those buggers will munch .02
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Well said, the new growth does looks healthy and vigorous!
 
 
 
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seussiii said:
 
Yea sounds like I just need to do a night OP...
 
 
also I just googled it after you mentioned "Asiatic brown beetles"...
 
I have seen 3-4 of these larva while prepping the beds... Looked very similar.
 
as-gard-beetle-larva-big.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Asiatic brown beetles hide down in the soil during the day. I would find them right along the edges of my 5 gallon bags about an inch deep. I've never seen their grubs. Always the adult. Just a plain brown little beetle. Looks like a Japanese beetle but no green. If that is your problem not much you can do. They eventually leave. You can go out at night and knock them off your plants and into a cup of soapy water where they'll drown. I set up some light traps since they are attracted to light. Caught a bunch that way. If you have them you will see them munching away at night.
 
UPDATE
 
Found the culprits...
 
Tomato plant nearby is infested with what im guessing are "army worms".
 
Video below. This was just a few leaves worth from the tomato plant. I hand picked about 30-40 so far. 1-2 stragglers made it over to a few peppers. Looks like BT is a nice fix but lowes no longer carries it. Will have to try another store on tuesday... Peppers still look great but the tomato got pretty bad before i could intervene. 
 
http://tinyurl.com/jcmpwh4
 
Gave these to the fire ants :)
 
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