LITTLE BUGGER
Pepper weevils are small, dark beetles with a long, curved snout. They are seriously tiny (about 1/8 of an inch long), but seriously destructive!
They're most commonly found on pepper plants. Females chew tiny holes into buds and young pepper pods to lay their eggs inside. Once hatched, the larvae feed from the inside out. The baby weevils will munch on seeds and pod walls where you can't see them.
If you notice buds or small peppers dropping early, or tiny dark punctures on your fruit, chances are your plant has become a nursery for pepper weevils.
REMOVAL METHODS
PREVENTION IS KEY
Pepper weevils do their damage from the inside out, so by the time you spot a dropped bud or a punctured pod, there's usually already a larva inside it.
That makes this pest more about staying ahead of it than treating the issue.
PRUNE AWAY
- Check your plants regularly for tiny punctures, or peppers falling before they're ready.
- Pick off and destroy any leaves or peppers that look infested. Bag them up for the trash, do not compost!
This method won't undo existing damage, but it stops the larvae inside from growing up into next season's weevils.
STICKY TRAPS
- Place yellow sticky traps near the soil surface to catch adult pepper weevils, especially as flowering starts.
- Check them weekly for any weevils caught in the adhesive. Traps won't save fruit that's already infested, but they help you catch a growing problem early.
REMOVE NIGHTSHADE WEEDS
Pepper weevils can live and breed on wild nightshade weeds growing nearby, not just your pepper plants.
Keep the area around your peppers clear of tomato, eggplant, or other nightshade plants so they have fewer places to hide.
Common nightshade weeds include:
Black Nightshade
Bittersweet Nightshade
Carolina Horsenettle
Silverleaf Nightshade
Hairy Nightshade
GARDEN CLEANUP
- Mix beneficial nematodes with water and add to soil, following package instructions.
- Nematodes will only target and eat fungus gnat larvae - NOT adult gnats.
Nematodes are microscopic and will not harm your plant. They will die on their own naturally as their food source runs low.
