Voracious plant eaters have descended on this Castro Valley garden. Here’s the suspected culprit.
I’ve been growing bell peppers in my garden for decades. I’ve never had anything eat them — until last week.
When I went to water and possibly harvest a couple of peppers, they had all been munched on. It almost looked like the critter had cut them from top to bottom and eaten the part that fell on the ground, along with the insides of the half they left hanging on the plant.For once, those creatures aren’t on the top of my suspect list. I think the culprit might be a tomato hornworm.
Although the tomato hornworm feeds on the leaves, stems and fruits of the tomato plant, they also have a taste for peppers. The damage you describe is also consistent with a caterpillar eating its way down the fruit. The green hornworms are difficult to see, but you should do a close inspection of your plants. Even if the hornworms are masterfully disguised, you should be able to see their droppings, which are small, round and black, on the tops of leaves. Also look for other signs of damage, such as areas where it looks like someone has snipped off the tops of plants or blooms.We have a second home in the Sierra at about 3,500 feet.
They proceeded to nibble at what are perhaps the buds for flowers that come in spring. I hope not. The trees are so pretty up here in the springtime with white and pink blossoms. I look forward to seeing them in the forest and our yard when we come up here in the spring.I’m not sure what birds you saw – pigeons don’t come in fantail varieties – but I think they may have been band-tailed pigeons. They’re known to hang out in larger flocks.
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