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Never Give Up - Trepadeira Werner Pepper vs. Deer (reddthat.com)

submitted 2 months ago by cranakis@reddthat.com to c/greenspace

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cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/25361855

Another gardening lesson in not giving up: The progression of pictures here are 3 of the same plant, a Trepadeira Werner pepper, taken over the course of this year.

1st pic: I grew them from seed indoors and a few days after putting them out in early April, I found the local deer had visited and eaten the plant down to the stem. I considered it a loss but didn't deal with it or pull the plant up. I just walked away, then went out of town for a bit the next day.

2nd Pic: When I came back into town it had new leaves so I figured I'd let it try again for kicks. It had fallen over under its weight so I staked it up. I did try a few things to keep the deer away, I think with moderate success.

3rd Pic is from last week. I see some evidence of deer nibbling but I believe the heat of the pepper may be keeping them away from it now. I'm still blown away remembering this thing when it was eaten to the stem.

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[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Pepper plants are resilient af. I had a 10 yo pepper plant in a pot that i COULD HAVE SWORN i killed because... I was dating a guy.. and was over at his place a lot .. and didn't water it enough... Anyway this thing was dead, but i was heartbroken I had lost sight of my true love (lol) and watered a dead plant for at least a month and it amazingly survived. It took a year off from pepper production, but this year it's in full bloom. Here's a picture of this 13 year old beast of a plant:

[–] cranakis@reddthat.com 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wow! What type of pepper is that?

[–] azerial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Chile Pequin (Capsicum annuum)
It's native where I live. You can find them growing in people's yards. Super spicy, birds love em.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=caan4

[–] cranakis@reddthat.com 2 points 2 months ago

Ah yes. I know this one as Chile Pequin. They sell them at the farmers market near me.

[–] LordAmplifier@pawb.social 3 points 2 months ago

It's amazing how plants can recover from what looks like a major injury. Last year, I had a sunflower seedling in a small cup, and something bit off its head. Might've been a bug, or a bird, we'll never know, but all that was left was a thin stem, just like in your photo. I kept watering it, and after a while, it started growing new leaves, then a second head, and although it was much smaller than the other sunflowers, it still bloomed.

[–] flora_explora 2 points 2 months ago

Wow, incredible!