I found these two this morning after finding their poop. What do y'all use to keep them away?
by tabbycat905
9 Comments
CrunchyNippleDip
Get yourself a gecko. Yummy snacks..
zigaliciousone
You just need to make sure you are checking your plants a couple times a day and you start getting a sixth sense for spotting them. I feed them to the birds when I find them.
kentastickent
Use a black light at night.
Idefkbud
You can buy them at most pet stores. They come in a box with a food/water source and just keep growing until feeding time. I got two at once and one spent a good week in that box and had definitely outgrown.
riggedeel
I second the recommendation for getting a black light. We got one online, handheld, and it wasn’t expensive.
It is amazing how easy they are to spot in the dark.
I haven’t had them on peppers myself, but I have had them strip tomato plants in very short order.
aremagazin
The worst garden pest, in my opinion. It’s hard to spot until it’s too late. I’ve heard diatomaceous earth can help, and I’ll try it today, but for now, daily and nightly inspection is the only sure thing to take them out. Black light definitely helps, they glow in the dark and are easier to see. I started a thread looking for prevention advice, but nobody had any real ideas.
CantinaPatron
Despite their size, they’re still stealthy little buggers!
Responsible_Bath_659
They’re so pretty. Got any chickens?
Washedurhairlately
This is a tobacco hornworm, not that it makes any difference, because the tomato hornworms are equally destructive and also munch on peppers. They lack their defense mechanism of halitosis when feeding on plants other than tobacco. The halitosis is caused by the nicotine they ingest being pushed out of the respiratory system (spiracles) which are the small circles on each section of the abdomen and repels predators. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for pepper growers, Reaper breath isn’t enough to deter would be predators.
9 Comments
Get yourself a gecko. Yummy snacks..
You just need to make sure you are checking your plants a couple times a day and you start getting a sixth sense for spotting them. I feed them to the birds when I find them.
Use a black light at night.
You can buy them at most pet stores. They come in a box with a food/water source and just keep growing until feeding time. I got two at once and one spent a good week in that box and had definitely outgrown.
I second the recommendation for getting a black light. We got one online, handheld, and it wasn’t expensive.
It is amazing how easy they are to spot in the dark.
I haven’t had them on peppers myself, but I have had them strip tomato plants in very short order.
The worst garden pest, in my opinion. It’s hard to spot until it’s too late. I’ve heard diatomaceous earth can help, and I’ll try it today, but for now, daily and nightly inspection is the only sure thing to take them out. Black light definitely helps, they glow in the dark and are easier to see. I started a thread looking for prevention advice, but nobody had any real ideas.
Despite their size, they’re still stealthy little buggers!
They’re so pretty. Got any chickens?
This is a tobacco hornworm, not that it makes any difference, because the tomato hornworms are equally destructive and also munch on peppers. They lack their defense mechanism of halitosis when feeding on plants other than tobacco. The halitosis is caused by the nicotine they ingest being pushed out of the respiratory system (spiracles) which are the small circles on each section of the abdomen and repels predators. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for pepper growers, Reaper breath isn’t enough to deter would be predators.