Re: [CH] Painful Peppers V6 #359
Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:02:52 -0500
Hi C-Hs,
Scot Ashkenaz wrote:
>I got up the courage to look closely
>enough to see that they are paper wasps;
How very interesting. I have been holding my tongue and watching the
various advice given to you. Now I am ready to add my tuppence worth and
admit to some very "un-Jain like" behaviour. We also have large numbers of
wasps and hornets of various kinds. I became tired of flopping down on a
chair after a hard session of pepper tending only to be stung in the back
by an unseen hornet. So, I instigated a campaign of erradication over a
four year period, using long range hornet aerosols, swatters, my pepper
singeing blowtorch or anything else I could think of (and I can be quite
creative!) I was completely unsuccessful in these efforts, and staring
gloomily at my favorite C. pubescens one day, I was amazed to notice that
these same hornets were climbing in and out of the purple blossoms with
considerable vigour. That year I had a bumper crop of these, my favorite
pods.
>So far, I have not seen them molesting the peppers, which they are close to.
I cannot imagine that their activity is restricted to one species of C.'s ;
so you might want to observe any pollination activity on your peppers. This
may be of marginal benefit to common self-pollinating C. annuums, but in
the case of peppers which are reluctant to set fruit without assistance, it
is a huge benefit.
A further note which may be of use. These creatures also need a supply of
water in order to construct their nests. The catchment trays for excess
water, in which my pepper plant pots stand is a considerable attraction to
them and focuses their attention nicely on the blossoms. You may want to
consider a source of water next to your plants.
---
Regards, Cameron.