Q.What Is Eating My Pepper Plants
I have several pepper plants. They are just starting to grow. They are also of different varieties. One is a New Mexico Chili pepper, the other is a Chocolate pepper, and then there are the regular Bell peppers. Oh yes, and one Banana pepper plant. They are all being eaten. It is early in the season, May, and there are no hornworms. I put out a slug trap, which has worked other years, but only caught 3 or 4 and it does not seem to be stopping the appearing holes. It is the leaves that are being eaten. The plant is healthy and starting flowers, but the leaves are getting worse and worse. I cannot figure out what it is or what to do. Please help.
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
If it is holes in the leaves, I would still say that it is slugs or snails. They may just not be gravitating to the traps this year (if you are using commercial traps, the formula may have changed). Try a different trap and lay some sand down around the bases of the plants to keep slugs off them.