Attack of the Caterpillars

[SeedOfMemory]

So I am new to gardening but I have had my pepper plants from seedlings. My habanero already has 13 fruit on it and I baby that plant. My ghost pepper and my sweet banana have yet to produce fruit. Anyway, none of that is the problem. Every morning I visit my habanero and check the fruit. I've never seen a problem until now. I noticed a giant hole in one of my peppers and a smaller hole in another. I snipped the big one off and cut it open to find a medium common striped garden caterpillar. I have had issues with these on my back patio on my sunflowers. Not in my front yard. They're destroying my baby I've raised from a seedling. I bought sevin dust. I'm not sure if it will work. Any help or tips would be appreciated.

 

[seedcorn]

Tougher than me if it can eat habanero peppers.....

 

[Collector]

I have ok luck with seven dust, sprinkle some on and some all around the plants. We use straw for mulch I usually just sprinkle the dust in the mulch around the plants, not sure if it helps or not but I think it does and I don’t have to put it on the plant. You are growing some hot peppers, do you eat them whole or use them to season food?

 

[catjac1975]

So I am new to gardening but I have had my pepper plants from seedlings. My habanero already has 13 fruit on it and I baby that plant. My ghost pepper and my sweet banana have yet to produce fruit. Anyway, none of that is the problem. Every morning I visit my habanero and check the fruit. I've never seen a problem until now. I noticed a giant hole in one of my peppers and a smaller hole in another. I snipped the big one off and cut it open to find a medium common striped garden caterpillar. I have had issues with these on my back patio on my sunflowers. Not in my front yard. They're destroying my baby I've raised from a seedling. I bought sevin dust. I'm not sure if it will work. Any help or tips would be appreciated.View attachment 27130 View attachment 27131

Worms are rare in peppers. Put away the poison and eat it pesticide free. You can't freek out every time you see a bug.

 

[Nyboy]

For the 1st time I am having problem with caterpillars @majorcatfish said to use triazicde not sure if food safe

 

[SeedOfMemory]

I have ok luck with seven dust, sprinkle some on and some all around the plants. We use straw for mulch I usually just sprinkle the dust in the mulch around the plants, not sure if it helps or not but I think it does and I don’t have to put it on the plant. You are growing some hot peppers, do you eat them whole or use them to season food?

I do both.i just decided I wanted them fresh. The sweet bananas are for my husband and I keep them far from the hot guys.

 

[SeedOfMemory]

Worms are rare in peppers. Put away the poison and eat it pesticide free. You can't freek out every time you see a bug.

I don't unless the bug is eating my peppers. Which it is. Caterpillars can demolish a plant.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A problem with any insecticide, organic or not, is that you have to get it to the insect for it to work. Some insecticides are contact, they have to physically touch the insect to work. Some have to be eaten to work. I think Sevin works both ways. But how do you get it to a caterpillar inside a pepper or tomato?

Another issue is that the poisons, organic or not, break down over time. Generally the more exposed to the atmosphere they are the faster they break down. That's a reason withdrawal times are so long with corn, the stuff gets under the husk and are slow top break down. Inside a pepper would not encourage breaking down.

And yet another issue. Many insecticides target a wide range of critters. They can kill beneficials as well as the target. Since you mentioned Sevin I'll address it specifically. It does not take much Sevin for it to work. Many people overuse it and kill a lot of beneficials, microbes and larger, in the soil under the plant. So try to just use enough to get the target. This is probably easier to control with a spray rather than a powder. But if my target is a cutworm that I cannot find with my digging, I will put Sevin on the soil in quantity to get the job done. To me the living cutworm is more harm than the dead microbes.

I've seen those caterpillars in peppers and tomatoes. Sometimes I trim the damaged area away and eat it, sometimes i give it, worm and all, to the chickens. Since there is a hole in the fruit, I'm pretty sure the egg is laid outside the fruit and the caterpillar eats its way inside. That would be the time to target it, between hatch and when it starts to eat its way inside.

Sevin should work but I'll mention BT. Get the BT that specifically targets caterpillars. It does not harm any beneficials or pests other than caterpillars in their caterpillar phase. As an example, adult butterflies are perfectly safe but it will kill them in the caterpillar phase.

 

[flowerbug]

i don't spray for bugs of any kind. i like the frogs/toads, etc that are around along with all the other beneficial insects and birds. about 12yrs ago Mom got it into her head that a certain spray around the border of the house would keep the bugs out. yes it worked for a short period of time, but then it also really killed off a lot of the rest of the things i liked. it took several years after we stopped using the spray before we'd see tree frogs around again. last year was the first time in many years i'd seen baby toads.

accept some losses. take time to observe and learn about pests. often there are ways to discourage the ones you don't like and encourage those you do.

consider alternative plants, some are more resistant or less attractive to certain pests.

this can also be applied to diseases. instead of spraying try to find other ways of dealing with the issue. so far i've only had a few things we can't really grow here and that's fine with me. there's a lot of other things i like which are easier to grow...

i don't see too many of the kind of worms you have in your pictures. i cut the damaged part away and eat the rest or feed it all to the worms.

 

[majorcatfish]

For the 1st time I am having problem with caterpillars @majorcatfish said to use triazicde not sure if food safe

we wash everything really good first either store or fresh... need to remember the commercial farmer are using all the chemicals that we are not allowed to use anymore......