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pics something is munching my leaves. pics show damage.

luvmesump3pp3rz

luvmesump3pp3rz

we have been dealing with a heat wave here in the northeast so i moved the plants that are in smaller containers to an area with midday shade and now i see some damage on 3 of the plants, all Jalapenos. it is only a couple of leaves per plant and the rest of the leaves look fine. any ideas what is doing this? i did a quick check and didn`t see any pest but i will be taking a closer look this evening. thanks for any input.
 
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edit to add:  the other plants that were not moved show no leaf damage and are about 40 feet away from the damaged ones.
 
 
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luvmesump3pp3rz said:
we have been dealing with a heat wave here in the northeast
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Tell me about it!
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
so i moved the plants that are in smaller containers to an area with midday shade and now i see some damage on 3 of the plants, all Jalapenos. it is only a couple of leaves per plant and the rest of the leaves look fine.
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luvmesump3pp3rz said:
the other plants that were not moved show no leaf damage and are about 40 feet away from the damaged ones.
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luvmesump3pp3rz said:
any ideas what is doing this?
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Who cares, move 'em with the others that are not being eaten! ;)
 
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This morning, at about 1:30 am, I found a cut worm of unknown variety, on one of my tomatillo plants.  I have been trying to catch the bastard for a week now, after noticing damage that looked exactly like that.
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Cutworms tend to be solitary, and VERY territorial.  So, it makes them very hard to catch in the act.
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BT or Neem might just be what you need to end this scourge. ;)
 
solid7 said:
Cutworms tend to be solitary, and VERY territorial.  So, it makes them very hard to catch in the act.
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Okay.. now I gotta ask.. what happens when a cut worm catches another worm in its territory?
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
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Tell me about it!
 

Who cares, move 'em with the others that are not being eaten! ;)
 
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thanks all for the input. yes i`m going to move them back with the others for some full sun. the heat wave is finally breaking. i looked again and saw nothing but will keep checking. i`d prefer finding it and getting rid of it rather than using insecticides. i caught this leaf damage early because there are only a few leaves involved. now i just have to catch the critter.   
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
thanks all for the input. yes i`m going to move them back with the others for some full sun. the heat wave is finally breaking. i looked again and saw nothing but will keep checking. i`d prefer finding it and getting rid of it rather than using insecticides. i caught this leaf damage early because there are only a few leaves involved. now i just have to catch the critter.   
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If it's a worm, and you move it, it's going to just travel with the pot.  They burrow into soil during daylight hours, to evade predators.  So then, you'll just end up with chewed leaves 40 feet from where you moved it from.  It's basically like sending your worm on a vacation, with all the comforts of home.
 
When I recommended BT or Neem, I recommended two of just about the most benign bug killers that you can use.  It's a hell of a lot easier than looking for a single worm.  However, I don't typically follow my own advice for this type of problem, instead opting to manually hunt them down.  
 
Muckyai said:
Savage!
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They are savages.  One more reason not to tolerate them.  As if any pepper lover needs another reason to hate a cut worm.
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I had a huge cutworm that once ate a 10 inch tall bitter melon plant - that I had just got attached to my plumeria - all the way down to the ground.  But I laughed last, as it was being devoured by my minion.
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I like to toss the big green guys on the roof and let the birds have a snack. If it dries out from the sun, eh, same result, just I didnt get to recycle it.
We have loads of smll garden lizards, but Ive never seen them crawl on any of my plants, not even once in the 10 plus years Ive been growing. Ours must just have plenty of ground food.
 
I just went through same thing the past week. Started noticing bits and pieces of leaves on my peppers missing. Whatever was eating them managed to eat right through several peppers that were so close to being completely ripe and picked. I was super pissed about that, bored a nice hole straight through. Looked everywhere and wasn't able to find anything.
 
Yesterday I went out and found a big 3" tomato hornworm munching away. Killed him yesterday, and then found two more this morning. Ordered some BT and am going to spray that when it arrives from Amazon.
 
The two I found this morning were smaller (maybe 1" big), and I only found one of them because I saw its horn sticking out. But it was underneath a leaf near the ground, and would have been completely obstructed and hidden had he not been sticking out just a bit. Sneaky little guys!! I'm hoping the BT will kill any that might still be hiding and act as a prophylactic to keep any more from setting up shop.
 
solid7 said:
That lizard is my non-captive pet. She is one of three that will eat out of my hand. She will actually sit on my arm or leg. Very interesting creatures.
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Ive got a couple praying Mantis this year and when I can I catch leafhoppers and disable them slightly(read barely squished from a clap the my hands on both side of the leaf then pick up whats left) and drop em on a leaf next to the guys. They take the food and no longer seem afraid of me at all.
Its kind of cool but I never have anything really good to give em.
The mantis always hang out in about the same place so easy to find.
 
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