The above picture is what is left of my luxurious green bell pepper plant!! This summer I decided I was going to try and grow some vegetables in pots a 2
nd time. I tried last summer, but when it started to get really hot and I started to get really big (I was pregnant) my plants sort of.......well, died. In fact when Oliver was born and my parents came to visit my Mom asked me one day if she could get rid of the nasty shriveled up plants that were my garden because she didn't want to look out the window and see them anymore. So this summer I thought I could give it another shot. I planted 2 tomato plants and one green pepper. I babied these plants, I watched and watered them. Then one day I had this beautiful green pepper growing. The excitement!! Then I had a few tomatoes coming on! All Right!! Then I missed a few days of watering and I hadn't been out on our back porch, but I thought it would be alright since it had been really muggy and overcast. I went out to admire my almost ready bell pepper. There she was, a beauty to behold. But wait, what is that? I looked closer at the pepper and there was a huge hole in it! I put my hand on it and it came right off, I turned it over and there was a HUGE
caterpillar. Pictured below.
I say Huge because it had eaten over half of the green pepper I had slaved over all summer long! Then I noticed that all the leaves on the entire plant except one tiny one were completely gone. Eaten. I was
devastated. Okay maybe not
devastated, but really bummed. But I'm sure all will be glad to hear that I put aside my anger and I took the
caterpillar and the
remnants of my bell pepper to the forest and placed it on some other plants so hopefully it will turn into a wonderful butterfly someday! The other sad thing is that a few of my tomatoes were ripe, but they ended up not tasting very good. I guess I haven't mastered the art of gardening in pots yet.
The above picture is what is left of my luxurious green bell pepper plant!! This summer I decided I was going to try and grow some vegetables in pots a 2nd time. I tried last summer, but when it started to get really hot and I started to get really big (I was pregnant) my plants sort of.......well, died. In fact when Oliver was born and my parents came to visit my Mom asked me one day if she could get rid of the nasty shriveled up plants that were my garden because she didn't want to look out the window and see them anymore. So this summer I thought I could give it another shot. I planted 2 tomato plants and one green pepper. I babied these plants, I watched and watered them. Then one day I had this beautiful green pepper growing. The excitement!! Then I had a few tomatoes coming on! All Right!! Then I missed a few days of watering and I hadn't been out on our back porch, but I thought it would be alright since it had been really muggy and overcast. I went out to admire my almost ready bell pepper. There she was, a beauty to behold. But wait, what is that? I looked closer at the pepper and there was a huge hole in it! I put my hand on it and it came right off, I turned it over and there was a HUGE caterpillar. Pictured below.
I say Huge because it had eaten over half of the green pepper I had slaved over all summer long! Then I noticed that all the leaves on the entire plant except one tiny one were completely gone. Eaten. I was devastated. Okay maybe not devastated, but really bummed. But I'm sure all will be glad to hear that I put aside my anger and I took the caterpillar and the remnants of my bell pepper to the forest and placed it on some other plants so hopefully it will turn into a wonderful butterfly someday! The other sad thing is that a few of my tomatoes were ripe, but they ended up not tasting very good. I guess I haven't mastered the art of gardening in pots yet.
4 comments:
Holy Cow! That is one huge caterpillar! I'm so sad for you. It looks like it was a beeeautiful pepper!
Wow, that caterpillar looks really big - did you doctor the photo?
No, that caterpillar is big and plump on it's own!! I'm telling you it ate a large bell pepper and basically the whole plant! Dang him.
That happened to me last year with my tomatoes. Except there were 3 with red horns on the back of them. I'm serious! They were scary looking. I killed them by dropping a brick on them (I felt bad stomping on them with my shoe, I have no idea why). They had eaten almost the entire plant. Which is why I didn't plant any veggies this year.... I'm sorry. I hate those things too. And it's really bad b/c those don't even turn into pretty butterflies- but into ugly moths.
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