Strange holes in peppers, but leaves are all doing very well

SnowSailor

SnowSailor

Hi,
 
I planted some Carolina Reapers earlier this year and they did pretty well up until they started actually growing peppers. At first the peppers were fine, but after a few weeks something started to eat holes in a lot of the peppers. They're not small holes either, probably 1cm in diameter and they sometimes go through the entire pepper. I looked through the thread on this forum about pests, but I didn't find anything that matched what was happening.
 
I've attached a picture of one of the peppers that was affected. The pests aren't only going for large peppers, there are some that are only an inch long that still have large holes in them. It doesn't look like there's any bugs on the plants whenever I go out to check on them. Could the cause be slugs coming out at night and ignoring the leaves in favor of the fruits? I've only heard of slugs eating the leaves, but pretty much all my leaves look fine. Regardless, I just put out some slug traps around my Reaper plant (water, sugar, and yeast).
 
As far as I can tell, none of my Ghost Peppers (directly adjacent to the Reapers) are affected. Neither are the Jalapenos or Bell Peppers.
 
Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Thanks
 

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bob65 said:
Looks like a caterpillar hole to me
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I suppose that could be possible. I didn't see any caterpillars on the plant though, and none of the leaves have their edges chewed off. What's the best solution to a caterpillar problem?
 
 
It could be a cutworm.  A member here named Boarider has the same thing going on in his garden right now, and he's got pretty definitive proof. (photographic evidence)  If it's a cutworm, it's only coming out at late night, early morning.
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This could also be birds.  I have damage that looks very much like that.  And I watch the little bastards do it.
 
solid7 said:
It could be a cutworm.  A member here named Boarider has the same thing going on in his garden right now, and he's got pretty definitive proof. (photographic evidence)  If it's a cutworm, it's only coming out at late night, early morning.
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This could also be birds.  I have damage that looks very much like that.  And I watch the little bastards do it.
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I've heard things about birds eating peppers but I'm not sure they're causing it in this case. I have a pretty tall fence around my plant and even peppers that are well off the ground and hidden away inside the plant are getting eaten. Would a bird fly into the fenced area and somehow get into the plant itself to eat a pepper? I haven't seen birds out there, but I'm not sure how desperate they are. What's also strange is that the reapers seem to be the only peppers affected (for now).
 
 
SnowSailor said:
 
I've heard things about birds eating peppers but I'm not sure they're causing it in this case. I have a pretty tall fence around my plant 
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But... wings?
 
solid7 said:
 
But... wings?
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It just seemed inconvenient for the birds. I've got other pepper plants that are much more exposed and don't have fencing that's as tall so I would expect those plants to be the first ones targeted.
 
 
Well, I am not saying that it's definitely a bird. It's more likely the cutworm.   But I wouldn't presume to know what a bird thinks.  I will say that I have a Brazilian Starfish that's over 7' tall, and it's always the first plant targeted.  Perhaps because it has the most places for critters to hide.  I dunno.  But the thing that is for sure with my peppers... birds always target the red ones.  They don't like brown or yellow. (in my garden)  Maybe just coincidence.  I dunno.
 
solid7 said:
Well, I am not saying that it's definitely a bird. It's more likely the cutworm.   But I wouldn't presume to know what a bird thinks.  I will say that I have a Brazilian Starfish that's over 7' tall, and it's always the first plant targeted.  Perhaps because it has the most places for critters to hide.  I dunno.  But the thing that is for sure with my peppers... birds always target the red ones.  They don't like brown or yellow. (in my garden)  Maybe just coincidence.  I dunno.
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Interesting. How would you prevent the cutworms then?
 
 
SnowSailor said:
 
Interesting. How would you prevent the cutworms then?
 
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Spray with BT or Neem.  Either one works effectively well.
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Or you can go out at night with a black light, and spot for them.  If you don't find it, repeat in the wee hours.
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Also... look around the base of your plants for signs of soil disruption.  The little shits crawl up and down every day, and burrow at the base of the plant.
 
solid7 said:
 
Spray with BT or Neem.  Either one works effectively well.
.
Or you can go out at night with a black light, and spot for them.  If you don't find it, repeat in the wee hours.
.
Also... look around the base of your plants for signs of soil disruption.  The little shits crawl up and down every day, and burrow at the base of the plant.
Click to expand...
 
I'll give Neem a shot. Does it also work to protect against other pests than cutworms?
 
 
Boarider said:
Yep, This is the little guy I caught.
None on my container plants just the ones planted in the ground.

Trying the Sluggo Plus.
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Awesome. I'll pick up some Sluggo Plus later today at the local gardening center and try it out. It says it kills cutworms, so hopefully that does it. The holes and bite marks on your pepper look very similar to the ones on mine, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a cutworm. I thought they mainly went for the stems of plants though (which is why they're called cutworms; they cut down plants).
 
SnowSailor said:
I thought they mainly went for the stems of plants though (which is why they're called cutworms; they cut down plants).
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Yeah, but at the point that your plant is bearing pods, it's too fibrous to be appealing to them.  They will do the most damage to your plants while they are still tender and succulent.  Which, I suppose, explains why this one went straight for the pod.
 
solid7 said:
 
Yeah, but at the point that your plant is bearing pods, it's too fibrous to be appealing to them.  They will do the most damage to your plants while they are still tender and succulent.  Which, I suppose, explains why this one went straight for the pod.
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Ah, yeah that makes sense. Cool.
 
Boarider said:
Yep, This is the little guy I caught.
None on my container plants just the ones planted in the ground.
e900c163923e21b512560413c1323512.jpg


Trying the Sluggo Plus.
a0fb415da9db0ec2daf7ab48c90b2465.jpg
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From the makers who brought you Sluggo, it's Sluggo Plus! 
 
Just got some Sluggo Plus from the store and put it down. I also cut off all the eaten peppers so it should be pretty obvious if it works or not. The next attempt would probably involve neem oil, but its expensive for even a small bottle of concentrate.
 
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