bigt said:I had one tomato hornworm last year and it destroyed a Japones plant in a couple of days early in the season. I thought it was deer nibbling on it until I spotted the little sucker (not really that little) hiding under a leaf. I figured the plant was a goner as almost all the leaves were gone, but it went on a growth spurt after that just making new leaves while my other Japones was making peppers. It eventually outgrew the non-damaged plant and made even more pods, just later in the season. Amazing.
Yes, it's amazing how large they get, and how quickly they can strip a plant.
Pepper plants can be tough.
If they weren't, mine would have never survived last summer. They got lots and lots of benevolent neglect.