pests Aphid Apocalypse

[dbtothapepps]

I've been growing a few random varieties of pepper plants outside in Los Angeles and the new leaves are getting ripped up by aphids. I've put neem oil on some of them...literally covered them...and the aphids persist. Any other tips? I'll def be keeping them inside longer in the future but these plants are already outside.
 
Thanks!

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

Any other tips?

 
Yes - As things are a bit slow around here I'd recommend trying Simple Search Helpful Hints and put "aphid control" or "neem ineffective" in our search engine for some leads..
 

 

[sirex]

Protip-Dr Bronners.

You'll find the way

I believe NEChileMan and I have had this convo before.

 

[Sinn]

Lady bugs eBay or Amazon [emoji6]

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[DrZeus87]

One approach I recommend is to do some manual elimination of the aphids before you spray. Manually eliminating some of the aphids makes it easier to do reapplications of neem in the future to keep the insects at bay...this works best with smaller plants but the method I use is gently squeezing a folded, soap-moistened paper towel to the affected leaves and removing the aphids as if you were drying a spoon with a paper towel per se. Then apply neem oil after you have gotten most of the aphids off. 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

 the method I use is gently squeezing a folded, soap-moistened paper towel to the affected leaves and removing the aphids as if you were drying a spoon with a paper towel per se. Then apply neem oil after you have gotten most of the aphids off. 

 
While I've often heard of "flushing" the aphids off with a hose I never heard of this method but it makes sense. Thanks for the advice!

 

[dbtothapepps]

One approach I recommend is to do some manual elimination of the aphids before you spray. Manually eliminating some of the aphids makes it easier to do reapplications of neem in the future to keep the insects at bay...this works best with smaller plants but the method I use is gently squeezing a folded, soap-moistened paper towel to the affected leaves and removing the aphids as if you were drying a spoon with a paper towel per se. Then apply neem oil after you have gotten most of the aphids off. 

 
I tried this today and it works pretty well. You do kind of run out of paper towel real estate as you go along. I may try this method with neem oil instead of soap for a two-fer because it's hard to spray up under the baby foliage with the neem oil spray bottle.

 

[acs1]

I've been growing a few random varieties of pepper plants outside in Los Angeles and the new leaves are getting ripped up by aphids. I've put neem oil on some of them...literally covered them...and the aphids persist. Any other tips? I'll def be keeping them inside longer in the future but these plants are already outside.
 
Thanks!

Well, I'll try and help...   I've had more battles with aphids here in sFL than I care to count, and neem has always worked for me. 
Key is in the way you mix it and apply it.
What neem are you using, how did you mix it, how did you apply it..?
 
Reason for the questions is, neem is very effective against soft bodied sucking insects, especially aphids. Kills pretty much all, including eggs, nymphs, etc, all gone dead for me in less than 24 hours. Once dead, green aphids turn brown than black. So, if a good grade of neem isn't working for you, its not the neem...
 
Don't hesitate here, as aphids bring other pests on their legs like the dreaded broad mite...
 
Do you have ants on your plants..? They make it harder to control aphids as they farm them for the honey dew aphids secrete. Ants carry them from leaf to leaf till every leaf has aphids making honey doo, and multiplying... Neem does not kill ants. Ants will restock' their aphid farm in short order.
 
jmo

 

[dbtothapepps]

Well, I'll try and help...   I've had more battles with aphids here in sFL than I care to count, and neem has always worked for me. 
Key is in the way you mix it and apply it.
What neem are you using, how did you mix it, how did you apply it..?
 
Reason for the questions is, neem is very effective against soft bodied sucking insects, especially aphids. Kills pretty much all, including eggs, nymphs, etc, all gone dead for me in less than 24 hours. Once dead, green aphids turn brown than black. So, if a good grade of neem isn't working for you, its not the neem...
 
Don't hesitate here, as aphids bring other pests on their legs like the dreaded broad mite...
 
Do you have ants on your plants..? They make it harder to control aphids as they farm them for the honey dew aphids secrete. Ants carry them from leaf to leaf till every leaf has aphids making honey doo, and multiplying... Neem does not kill ants. Ants will restock' their aphid farm in short order.
 
jmo

 
I use Safer brand neem oil in the spray bottle (already mixed). I just apply it by spraying the leaves as much as possible. The main issue is getting it up under the baby foliage on new plants, it's really hard to get that coverage. There is probably a cheaper method than buying the pre-mixed (it's like $13 for a 32oz bottle). I think most of these aphids turn white when they die. 
 
I don't have ants, hopefully never will!

 

[Mr.joe]

The trick is to stay on them. The aphids reproduce fast and since the plant is still ( hopefully) growing then they always have clean food. Spraying under leaves and covering entire plant is crucial, but as you mentioned not always easy especially if they are not in pots. I use a small pump up sprayer that works much better than a regular spray bottle. I also like the technique of alternating sprays between neem then soap or another organic treatment. I don't think waiting to plant out would have helped you much. For me aphids are a problem indoors where they have no predators. Ladybugs are fun and it's satisfying to see the pests get eaten alive, but I've never seen ladybugs fix an infestation. I have planted ladybugs and preying mantis in my garden and will again, but if your plants have an aphid infestation neem is your friend

 

[acs1]

 
I use Safer brand neem oil in the spray bottle (already mixed). I just apply it by spraying the leaves as much as possible. The main issue is getting it up under the baby foliage on new plants, it's really hard to get that coverage. There is probably a cheaper method than buying the pre-mixed (it's like $13 for a 32oz bottle). I think most of these aphids turn white when they die. 
 
I don't have ants, hopefully never will!

 If I were you, I'd get some clarified Southern AG brand neem from HD that only needs to be mixed with warm water @ 2-4 tbs per gallon and shake like hell before and during spraying. It is already blended with surfacents so no need to mix in soap.This type clarified neem will leave your plants all shiny and healthy looking like they just got a carnuba wax job...lol.
 
 For aphids I'd use 3tbs per gallon of water. That will kill them all if you get under all leafs with a drenching spray. Its about $8 and will make many gallons of powerful but a less harsh mix than cold pressed neem mixed with soap. And you can spray in the day time unlike cold pressed neem nite spay only. Only mix what you can use, as pure clarified with surfacaents or cold pressed neem with soap deteriorates to useless in a couple hours, unlike 'safer brand neem'
 
The cold pressed is a harsher mix that has more lasting type deterrent action, and more killing power, kind of.
 If you got the time at nite and are able to mix it correctly with mild soap, cold pressed neem is the best, but clarified neem will work fine for aphids.
 
 When you're at HD getting the neem, get a cheap HDX $9, 1 gallon sprayer. The spray wand will allow you to get under all leafs with a drenching spray. If you don't get under all leafs you'll never get rid of them aphids, ever.
 
If you have to prune back some lower old dense foliage to get a good spray coverage under foliage, do it. Remove any damaged/deformed foliage, it wont heal. I sometimes if needed turn/hold the leaf with my hand while spraying, so spray head can dripping soak em good for 100% coverage/kill.... Neem is used in women's cosmetics and some supplements, it won;t hurt you... In a real strong mix, especially cold pressed, it might irritate sensitive skin a little, maybe. Never bothered me much, but try to keep its mist out of your eyes... Sometimes I wear gloves but they end up soaked. Suppose you could use some disposable gloves if you're sensitive... If you breath some mist in, might kill covid19... lol, jk
 
 Also lightly soak the top of the media and the main stem where it enters the media. Make sure to get all stems, leafs underside and top, straight down into new growth/bud/flower areas with a strong drenching dripping spray. Keep sprayer pumped up hard. Spray early morning or best is late afternoon before dusk, not in 12 noon sun.Once the pests are gone plant will take off with vigor...
 
Keep the safer brand neem for in between flare ups you can nip in the bud. Bottle sprayer with its weak neem is good for a few pests you can get at easy with the bottle sprayer. Now that pests have found your plants, it will come in handy for sure...
 
Other options,  go nuclear and suit up with a with toxic systemic poison non organic, so poisonous needing only a light dainty' non drenching spray. Could also light spray with non toxic systemic BT and have GMO peppers with no aphids.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[blueapplepaste]

I've dealt with them here in TX as well.
 
What has seemed to work pretty well for me is I'll put on some gloves and try to "wipe away" as many as I can see on the leaves by gently pinching and rubbing the leaves through my fingers to crush and kill the aphids. Smaller leaves, flower buds, etc I won't try this as I don't want to damage the plant. But I do this before spraying anything.
 
I also will regularly use neem oil 1x/week. I also add a little surfactant to it to help it stick on the plant. Make sure you're getting under the leaves and in the nooks and crannies where they can hide.
 
I usually have ladybugs move in and then I'll let the ladybugs do their work. However, they usually get the population of aphids down to 0.01%, and leave, and then aphids do come back. But it's often easier to manage after the ladybugs visit.

 

[Dulac]

I got rid of mine with ladybugs this year. They must have eaten the eggs too, because I never saw aphids again. I had clover growing nearby for pollinators that got infested with aphids. Maybe it's a good sacrificial plant. They were starting to get on my peppers before I released them. I also have none on my milkweed, which usually get infested. I had spiders helping and ants working against me! The ladybugs hung around until they got them all. I have a nice natural habitat for them. You may want to pick up some ladybug home stuff. I thought about doing that to keep them around, but I have huge butterfly garden that they liked. They love fennel and anne lace types of flowers. What I try to do is create a balanced ecosystem in my garden. It's a good idea to have a food source for aphids to keep the ladybugs around. Mine just happened to wipe out the ones on the clovers, so I might have released too many.