Something has been eating the leaves, but the plant is doing really well! This came from a seed from a pepper from the store - it was labeled as either an “ancient” or a “twisty” pepper.
This is the biggest pepper on the biggest plant and is around 6 inches long! (all I had with me for scale was my hand, but later remembered that none of you know how big my hand is 😋) It’s in one of the half-barrel sized planters with another of the same kind, and 2 tabasco pepper plants.
Looks like #4 on this site: https://greatist.com/eat/cayenne-habanero-poblano-serrano-know-your-chile-peppers#basque-fryer the damage to the leaves looks like snails. If you put a ring of crinkly tinfoil at the base of the plant it might deter them.
It does look similar. Honestly, I’m not much of a pepper person - I grew some seeds as both a challenge to myself, and for the family to have a kind of pepper they like. Can I grow them? Yes. Should I grow them? This time was also yes 😋
Thanks for the tip about the tinfoil - between that and a slug trap, it seems like the damage should at least be mostly mitigated.
If you don’t want critters eating your veggies, you have to set up a fence around your garden.
Or just grow enough strawberries as tribute, apparently…
It does help to live in the middle of a fertile forest, with lots to eat. But I still have no chance of getting strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or currants for myself without a fence. Even with raspberries and blackberries growing everywhere wild, they’ll still eat all mine.
Take it as a compliment.
You grew berries the wildlife preferred. You beat nature. Look at those wild berries and shame them, for they will never be as delicious and their seeds will not be spread.
Ehh, I’ve still had critters get in. We don’t have a permanent patch, so we didn’t bury the chicken wire, so things went under - even when it was staked down pretty well.
We have also had (presumably) animals go over the top and bend the whole fence inwards just to get in. ¯\(ツ)/¯
