War on Cutworms

Sweet peppers of every color are a staple at our house, so they've been at the top of my list of vegetables to grow.  I tried unsuccessfully to grow them from seed (great learning experience - more about that later), and finally bought transplants at Lowe's.  I planted them in containers, and it didn't occur to me to take basic cutworm precautions like collars and diatomaceous earth.  Everything seemed to be fine until blooms appeared and started to open.  The morning after I took this picture, this beautiful blossom was lying in the dirt.  And then I spotted my first cutworm of the season stretched out on a limb of the plant like it owned the place.   

I've become a bit obsessed with hunting cutworms since then.  If I weren't so pissed at them, I might actually be impressed by what they're capable of.  Since hand-picking doesn't seem to be scratching the surface, diatomaceous earth is my next step and I hope it works.   My pepper blossoms have continued to wither and fall off, and I've almost lost hope for homegrown peppers this year.  I used an epsom salt foliar spray last week, in case the larger issue is blossom end rot.  I also placed cornmeal traps around my plants, which ended up attracting both cutworms and slugs.  Eew  And probably feeding the ant population.  Insert exasperated sigh here.

For future reference, here's a list of different ways to prevent or fight cutworms:

  - get rid of weeds
  - surround your garden with a perennial flower border
  - put a collar of stiff paperboard around your plants when you plant them
  - use diatomaceous earth around the base of the plant
  - surround your plants with a collar of molasses as a deterrent
  - sprinkle used coffee grounds around the plant and infected areas
  - cultivate at the end of the season to expose and destroy winter habitats
  - saucers of cornmeal are supposed to work as deadly bait that cutworms eat, but can't digest