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Something stripping leaves?

JohnsMyName

JohnsMyName

Hi all, 
 
Haven't posted on here in a very long time, and happy to be back. I have something stripping the leaves from the bottom up on a cherry pepper plant. In a couple of days it has stripped the lower 1/3 of the plant! These are potted an on my deck. No other plants have been attacked (tomatoes, bok choy, other peppers). I searched it for signs of worms, cant find any or droppings.  Is this a bug or maybe a rodent? First day I noticed I gave it a very light spraying of neem oil. This AM it was hit again so I sprayed it very well. What would be doing this and what should I look for/do?
 
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Neem doesn't work instantly.  But it does work.
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If you don't see a hornworm, it could be a cutworm.  They come out at night and the wee hours of morning, then they return to the subterranea.
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If it's not a cutworm, it could be a rat.  They are terrible about this.  Try setting a rat trap with a slice of banana on the trigger. (I like to plunge a knife into the side of a banana slice, so that I can wrap the banana around the trap trigger)
 
Exactly the three things I was thinking after extensive research! Solid advice brother  :P
 
I bought a black light flashlight to search for hornworms, but I have decent eyes at 33 and spent 10 minutes searching the relatively small plant. I was thinking rat too, but I feel like it would have eaten more than it did on night #2. I'm borrowing a trail cam to setup and see if I can catch something. 
 
That leaves me with cutworms. This makes sense being from bottom up and damage at night. Will need oil kill them? Any other good actions to take?
 
In next couple days I'll have the black light and the trail cam running. I'll make sure to update with those results.
 
 
I'm guessing rat, honestly.  They typically either work the top or bottom first - whichever is most accessible from their point of entry.  Cutworms have a habit of going straight to the top, or cutting off anything down low, so they can eat it on the ground. (but that is usually saplings or seedlings)
 
solid7 said:
I'm guessing rat, honestly.  They typically either work the top or bottom first - whichever is most accessible from their point of entry.  Cutworms have a habit of going straight to the top, or cutting off anything down low, so they can eat it on the ground. (but that is usually saplings or seedlings)
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Damn. Another interesting point is that it's the plant nearest the stairs and best point of entry for the rat bastard.
 
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A good multi-tiered approach would be Neem + a rat trap. ;)
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I've always wondered where the term "rat bastard" came from.  I get it now. 
 
Tonight I'm putting out a trap. I've already neem oil sprayed and tomorrow I will have the black light and somoe BT liquid (bacillus thuringiensis). That should cover me on all 3 threats. I'll keep this thread updated.
 
I don't know if you can mix BT and Neem.  Better be careful with that.  Neem tends to not like playing with other stuff...  Research safe use of the 2 products together.
 
I think it's a chipmunk or squirrel. No issues until this AM , I was attacked again. Stripped a bunch of leaves and most of my baby peppers. This time I saw damage before leaving for work, and some of the leave were carried up to the top of the railings and eaten there. I inspected them and it looks like like rodent teeth. I can't imagine a rat would climb to the top of the railing to eat, but the damn squirrels do. I have a bunch of old ladies around me that feed them seed and bread. There are gangs of these tree rats and some of them aren't even afraid of people. I'll need to poison them or something, can't shoot them around the houses here. 
 
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JohnsMyName said:
I think it's a chipmunk or squirrel. No issues until this AM , I was attacked again. Stripped a bunch of leaves and most of my baby peppers. This time I saw damage before leaving for work, and some of the leave were carried up to the top of the railings and eaten there. I inspected them and it looks like like rodent teeth. I can't imagine a rat would climb to the top of the railing to eat, but the damn squirrels do. I have a bunch of old ladies around me that feed them seed and bread. There are gangs of these tree rats and some of them aren't even afraid of people. I'll need to poison them or something, can't shoot them around the houses here. 
 
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for the love of God don't poison the things.  I've never known squirrels to eat adult leaves, but maybe they do.  Put netting around them, I use the DeerX stuff, they haven't stepped a foot in my beds ever since.
 
That looks like rodents.  Rats can, and absolutely do, climb.
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Rat trap.  Old school type.  Peanut butter or bananas as bait.
 
Doelman said:
for the love of God don't poison the things. 
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I've got to agree with this.  You kill it with poison, you're going to kill whatever eats its carcass, and that's just plain irresponsible.
 
I put out a have-a-heart trap and all I caught was a bird! Whatever it is doesn't seem to be coming very regularly. Poison is a bad idea, but there is an infestation of squirrels and chipmunks and I have no issues thinning them out.
 
A 5 gal bucket filled half way with water and a layer of bird seed on the surface works amazingly well for chipmunks. The squirrels not so much, too big and jump out. I'll put the have-a-heart back out and the bucket trap today. I'm also getting the trail cam from a friend tomorrow. 
 
As for rats climbing, I live in a country type suburb area. Lots of clear areas here, I would imagine rodents would be too scared to be up and in the open with all the owls? That's why I was thinking the bold chipmunks or squirrels in early morning.  
 
Let you all know how it goes when I have more, but definitely rodent.
 
 
Rats gotta eat, owls or no owls.  I have owls in my backyard that sit in the trees and bushes, waiting to ambush.  I've got climbing rats.  Don't make the mistake of assuming that it "can't be this because of that."  Nature will surprise you.
 
Here's the thing about thinning out chipmunks and squirrels, when you kill them others move in to replace them fairly quickly, this really isn't an effective way to keep them off your plants.  I went one season taking every single one I saw out with a pellet gun, I must have killed two dozen, didn't do squat. 
 
Doelman said:
Here's the thing about thinning out chipmunks and squirrels, when you kill them others move in to replace them fairly quickly, 
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Like I said, in my garden, they got the picture really quick.  You can go over there, but touch this, and you'll die.  Now, some critters are smarter than others, and some have strength in numbers.  So you don't really know until you try.  If there are hordes of critters, you're probably F'ed.  If there are just a few approaching the house - as is often the case with rats - when they see a friend die, they often avoid.  Pepper foliage isn't preferred food for them, it's just opportunistic. (and more often than not, they're building a nest with it - the damage here is extremely seasonal) I do believe that many creatures have the ability to make value based decisions.  So I'm always going to say, if you've asked nicely, and they haven't responded, step up the game.  The response will be definitive, and either you've achieved your goal, or you go back to the drawing board.
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As it is, it's hard to say what will happen until we know for sure what's even nibbling.
 
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