How to get rid of caterpillars on peppers
Bell pepper is one of the most delicious and healthy garden crops. However, the plant is attractive not only to humans, but also to insect pests.
You can often see inconspicuous small caterpillars on pepper leaves, which devour the leaves, impairing photosynthesis and plant nutrition. A massive invasion of these insects will lead to crop loss.
The article will tell you what to do if an annoying pest appears, and how to deal with caterpillars on peppers in a greenhouse and open ground.
Why do caterpillars appear on peppers?
Caterpillars can appear on peppers for several reasons.
Initially, caterpillars settle on cereal plants and weeds.. When there is a lack of food, they begin to crawl to neighboring areas, easily covering significant distances. If the summer is humid with prolonged rains, then such an environment will be the most nutritious for their intensive reproduction.
Pest eggs may be found on pepper seedlingsthat you purchase.
Caterpillars can overwinter in open ground. When such a substrate gets into greenhouses, the likelihood of caterpillars appearing on seedlings is very high. In greenhouses, caterpillars appear much more often than in open ground. This is due to a more humid environment and the lack of direct sun in the greenhouse. In drought and sunlight, the pest eggs die.
Other pests on peppers:
Fast and effective pest control - slugs on peppers
Aphids appeared on peppers in a greenhouse: how to defeat the pest
Varieties of caterpillars
The name of small green caterpillars, the most harmful pests of peppers, is cutworm.. There are about 100 species of this insect. The adult cutworm looks inconspicuous: a small butterfly with dark brown wings covered with gray and orange spots and a light gray line along the edges.
The caterpillar of the cutworm is green, has transverse lines on its back, and a light green stripe running along the sides. It is not easy to spot the cutworm among plants. The pest hides during the day and appears only in the evening.
There are mainly 2 types of caterpillars living in vegetable gardensthat eat bell peppers: winter armyworm and gamma armyworm.
Fall armyworm
Pest caterpillar survives winter in egg shell. It leaves it only in the spring at a stable temperature of +8...+10°C. The hatched caterpillar first devours weeds and then switches to garden crops.
The fall armyworm loves peppers and tomatoes most of all.. It is capable of completely destroying a plant, gnawing through the roots and stem near the soil. It lives on the plant only for a few days, then it begins to hide in the ground. The color of the caterpillar is gray-greenish with longitudinal dark stripes on the sides. The body length of the pest reaches 5-6 cm.
Gamma scoop
Refers to leaf-eating pests. The gamma cutworm lives primarily on plant stems. Like the fall armyworm, it first feeds on weeds and then migrates to garden crops.
The pest eats the fleshy parts of the pepper leaf and gnaws the pulp of the fruit.. The cutworm often feeds on unripe fruits and unopened buds, and eats the plant in just a few hours, after which it moves to another.The color of the gamma owl is light green with small specks or green. The caterpillar's body is thick, 4 cm long.
Signs of caterpillars
Having information about the signs and timing of the appearance of the armyworm on peppers and measures to combat it, you can prevent the invasion of the pest, preserve and grow the crop.
Cutworms appear for the first time in April-May, and in summer they can be seen from late July to late September. If you notice small brown butterflies in the evening during this time, keep a close eye on the peppers. Butterflies are the first signal.
That there are caterpillars in the seedlings, small holes on the leaves or their eaten edges will tell you.
If the pepper has already formed flowers, began to gain strength and suddenly began to fall off, then with a high probability caterpillars started up in them.
Rapid wilting of plants also speaks of a pest invasion. When these signs appear, it is better to take action immediately, since cutworms are very voracious.
Reference! One caterpillar can destroy up to 10 plants per night.
Fighting methods
Getting rid of armyworm infestations is not easy. You can fight the pest in different ways, from the most radical to the most gentle.. You will achieve results faster if you start removing caterpillars with chemical or biological preparations. But when environmental friendliness and harvest purity are a priority, folk remedies are more suitable.
Chemical methods
Chemicals (insecticides) in different ways affect pests:
- destroy eggs and larvae;
- repel insects;
- paralyze the respiratory and nervous systems;
- inhibit sexual functions.
Important! Insecticides have toxicity classes 1-4, so personal protective equipment is required when using them.Working with insecticides for more than 1 hour is not recommended.
Against the scoop have proven themselves to be the most effective: “Bazudin”, “Stefesin”, “Zolon”, “Fury”, “Decis-pro”.
Peppers can be treated with insecticides 1-2 times per season., considering that each drug has its own waiting period of 20 days or more, depending on the toxicity class.
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Biological methods
Biological products do not contain insecticides and differ from chemical ones in a number of advantages:
- the ability to process plants without restrictions and throughout the entire growing season;
- no waiting periods;
- stimulation of plant defenses and soil health;
- absence of toxic substances.
The result of using biological drugs occurs within a week. Insects remain on the leaves, but lose mobility and stop feeding. They no longer harm plants and die completely after a week.
The most common biological products: “Fitoverm”, “Entobacterin”, “Bitoxibacillin”, “Dendrobacillin”, “Natur Guard”.
Traditional methods
How to get rid of caterpillars using folk remedies?
Because the caterpillars cannot tolerate tobacco, the use of tobacco tincture will be effective. Tobacco dust or shag is mixed with water in a ratio of 1:10 and infused for 3 days.
Can spray the peppers with onion peel infusion: 200 g of husks are infused for 3-4 days in 10 liters of water.
Another problem for caterpillars is garlic tincture.. It is prepared in the same way as onion: 200 g of garlic cloves per 10 liters of water. The tincture is ready within a day.
A decoction of yarrow helps a lot. Steam 800 g of dry mass in boiling water for 40 minutes and add water to a volume of 10 liters.
The best way to treat peppers against caterpillars is up to the gardener to decide - if the recipe is strictly followed, any remedy will bring results.
An effective way to prevent infection - scare away or destroy cutworm butterflies. Traps are prepared for them from fermented sweet drinks: kvass, juice, compote, jam.
Reference! If you want to stop the pest in time, install pheromone baits on the site. This is a sure way to prevent it from reproducing.
Prevention measures
Preventing cutworm caterpillars from appearing on peppers is much easier than exterminating them later.. Prevention measures are simple and do not take much time.
The greenhouse must be treated with disinfectants in the fall after harvesting and in the spring before sowing. A similar procedure is carried out with equipment.
In the fall, in order to destroy the caterpillars that have buried themselves in the ground for the winter, the soil is dug up deeply and the furrows are filled with slaked lime. In spring, the soil is also dug deeply, approximately 26-28 cm.
Noctuid moths enter greenhouses through cracks and open windows.. To prevent this, special nets are hung on the windows from the inside. It is necessary to loosen the soil more often and remove weeds in a timely manner. Mulching the beds with sawdust or grass helps.
Attention! Treatment with insecticides is carried out before the flowering period.
Conclusion
You can fight pepper pests in different ways, but despite many measures, this crop is one of their most favorite delicacies. Therefore, the main condition for obtaining a good harvest of peppers will be the timely identification and destruction of caterpillars, as well as preventive measures - disinfection of the soil and greenhouse structures.