I'm not in your neck of the woods but last year in Naples, Italy, a rat decided he liked the chillies growing on my 6th floor terrace. He began with the ripe fruit of the larger and milder varieties I grow for pickling before moving on to the medium hot types. He only ate the fruit leaving the seeds behind and didn't touch the hotter fruits.
I solved the problem with poisoned bait and the resulting corpse finally explained away the mystery. He was as big as a cat and must have been climbing the drainpipe.
I was suprised because, when I lived in Greece, I had dozens of plants in my garden and would often see rats and mice in the vicinity attracted by the grain mt beighbour used to feed his chickens. They ate heartily of the various sweet melons I grew but never touched my peppers - not even the sweet Italian varieties.
Jun 22, 2008 Rating
Rats!!! by: David
I'm not in your neck of the woods but last year in Naples, Italy, a rat decided he liked the chillies growing on my 6th floor terrace. He began with the ripe fruit of the larger and milder varieties I grow for pickling before moving on to the medium hot types. He only ate the fruit leaving the seeds behind and didn't touch the hotter fruits.
I solved the problem with poisoned bait and the resulting corpse finally explained away the mystery. He was as big as a cat and must have been climbing the drainpipe.
I was suprised because, when I lived in Greece, I had dozens of plants in my garden and would often see rats and mice in the vicinity attracted by the grain mt beighbour used to feed his chickens. They ate heartily of the various sweet melons I grew but never touched my peppers - not even the sweet Italian varieties.
Mar 27, 2008 Rating
Nocturnal chilli afficionado by: Steve in Newcastle
I'd have to point the finger at a brushtail possum. I've lost young plants and had slightly older ones "tip-pruned" by brushtail possums. They seem to leave the older plants with fruit alone, although I mainly grow bird's eye and pequin chillies, so perhaps the ripe fruit is not so favoured. Ripe fruit does tend to be attacked by ants and some other insects, although losses are very minimal.
Here's a link regarding animals and chillies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1456995.stm
Regards,
Steve
Feb 26, 2008 Rating
Chili loving possum by: Antal
Thanks for the cricket warning. My 5 plants have not died and are now happily growing leaves again. However I suspect that the animal that ate them was indeed a possum; I caught it sniffing at the new plants again, wondering how to penetrate the nets... so beware the Chili loving possum in Glebe!
Feb 16, 2008 Rating
The case of the disappearing chillies by: Jackie M
Sounds like it could be grasshoppers. Try tying some netting over the plants and securing it at the stem (the kind of stuff you get in fabric shops) and keep tending the plants. Hopefully they'll grow back. In my experience many grasshoppers are chilli-heads - and they tend to blow in on the wind. No rhyme or reason to it, and they're good at stripping plants of flowers and leaves.
Good luck & best wishes,
Jackie M
