This is the first time I'm dealing with any sort of pests attacking my habanero plant. Few days ago I noticed some aphids on my leaves, but I only started paying attention once I saw some sticky honey-like substance on my leaves and pods when harvesting them. Haven't had much time to deal with, but today I saw these buggers spread across the whole plant, so I gave it a nice shower with a teaspoon of dish soap mixed with 0.5 liter of water.
My question is, since it's pretty late in the season, and those pests are more or less frequent in early season when there's no pods on the plant:
1. I always give my ripe chillies a thorough rinse before consuming/making hot sauce, but will chilli pods absorb soapy water making them inedible? (perhaps stupid question, but I haven't found really any good answer to that)
2. Will it harm pods? I know I should've sprayed soapy water just locally and observe next 24-48 hours, but I will be on a bussiness trip again, so I risked it by spraying it all over the plant.
3. Noticed also a lot of holes in the leaves. Aphids don't cause that, do they*
My question is, since it's pretty late in the season, and those pests are more or less frequent in early season when there's no pods on the plant:
1. I always give my ripe chillies a thorough rinse before consuming/making hot sauce, but will chilli pods absorb soapy water making them inedible? (perhaps stupid question, but I haven't found really any good answer to that)
2. Will it harm pods? I know I should've sprayed soapy water just locally and observe next 24-48 hours, but I will be on a bussiness trip again, so I risked it by spraying it all over the plant.
3. Noticed also a lot of holes in the leaves. Aphids don't cause that, do they*