I have four small chile plants overwintering under a couple of T8s. I brought them inside in small pots after I cut them back to steams and very little foliage. Recently I have developed aphids on them. At first I tried pulling them off with my fingers. That didn't work, so I gave them a soap/ oil water bath. At first that seemed to do the trick, but slowly they returned. A gave them another soap and oil bath. It seamed to work but then again they reappered. Is there any thing else I can do? I'm going to be starting seedlings soon and don't need these little *%$#s around.
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pests APHIDS!?
- Thread starter Terravexti
- Start date
I'm fighting the same battle you are.. frustrating isn't it... I've soaked each plant in that insect soap stuff they sell 4 times now... three treatments of neem oil, two treatments of dial soap, one treatment of cayenne tea and countless hours pinching leaves... tonight I sprayed them with (per gallon) 1/4 cup Murphys oil soap and 2 cups rubbing alcohol.... we'll see if that does anything... I also ordered lacewing eggs and I'll release those once they arrive..
I never have problem with aphids outdoors as I have a strong population of ladybugs.. but I guess a few snuck in this year... damn,...
I never have problem with aphids outdoors as I have a strong population of ladybugs.. but I guess a few snuck in this year... damn,...
They are as bad on my indoor plants as I've ever seen. I'm fighting them with dish soap in water spray. A hard fight though.
Big Mike
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Big Mike
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Don't forget to do something with the top soil as they might have fallen there or are hidin there.
Yhea, I scrapped off the top layer of soil and replaced it on all of them.
A lot of people just trim back plants and bring them inside. IMO you should take every precaution possible to keep pests out of your house. Aphids,whitefly, in-laws!!!
1. Prune back plant.
2. Spray evey bit of soil off of the roots.
3. Fill a large tub with water and mix in your insecticidal oil/and plain dish detergent.No antibacterial or scented soap!! Submerge plant,roots and all.
4. Fill another tub up with a bleach and water mixture. Soak,and scrub the pot you intend to use for your plant.
5. Repot your plant in "NEW" soil of your choice.
6. Find an insecticide,miticide spray and spray your plant completely down. Get into all tight spots. Bugs don't hide out in the open!! I even spray the surface of the soil.
Those are just the basics,and you can get more thorough if you choose.
1. Prune back plant.
2. Spray evey bit of soil off of the roots.
3. Fill a large tub with water and mix in your insecticidal oil/and plain dish detergent.No antibacterial or scented soap!! Submerge plant,roots and all.
4. Fill another tub up with a bleach and water mixture. Soak,and scrub the pot you intend to use for your plant.
5. Repot your plant in "NEW" soil of your choice.
6. Find an insecticide,miticide spray and spray your plant completely down. Get into all tight spots. Bugs don't hide out in the open!! I even spray the surface of the soil.
Those are just the basics,and you can get more thorough if you choose.
+ 1 with what Prodigal said. If you have a green house or grow room get some Ladybugs, one Ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. Good luck, having a war with them myself. My grunts(ladybugs) will arrive in a few days, about 1500 of them.
1. Crush your enemies.
2. See them driven before you.
3. Hear the lamentation of their women.
I was finally able to get rid of my last wave of indoor aphids for good by tearing off every leaf that I saw them on. My plants aren't as pretty as they once were, but damnit, you don't win wars with pretty.
2. See them driven before you.
3. Hear the lamentation of their women.
I was finally able to get rid of my last wave of indoor aphids for good by tearing off every leaf that I saw them on. My plants aren't as pretty as they once were, but damnit, you don't win wars with pretty.
I agree!
I make a general rule to NEVER bring an outside plant in... unless the above rules are followed. Huge root prune and haircut, ditch all the soil, spray off roots, repot in new soil and spray down with something .. be it dish soap solutions, neem oil, whatever the case may be. Then always use new soil as mentioned above.
It works though, I havent had bugs since Ive done that, plus you can overwinter them in smaller containers that way.
I was beggining to wonder if the soil I'm useing is generally contaminated. It's potting soil I keep outside uncoverd in a plastic bag. It's not a horrible infestation, but a countinueing one that I must defeat before the start of next years seedlings. I'm considering a complete plant overhaul as stated above. It just seems like a awful lot of stress on the plants.
Seems like this would be a great way to treat hydroponic plants as well. May have to give it a try this week.
I lurked around since spring and I finally registered! Ho hum right?? Anyway. I too have the dreaded aphids indoors. Sloppy, lazy practices used by me as I transferred my plants indoors. Now I'm battling them too. I had a weird observation also. My affected peppers are all the superhots. None of the mundane, run of the mill Italian or bell types seem very affected. And those have more and bigger leaves left on them! Strange. If last weeks latest round of attack fails I'm spending a day to start over on them. Most are already pruned. (I'll remove anything left), Rinse the roots (completely this time), then soak, scrub and treat, again. I'll even mop the area with bleach water to ensure the floor is not any kind of issue either.
PrOdigal, what insecticidal oil do you like to use with the dish soap? Brand or active ingredient. And what as a follow up? I[background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]nsecticide, miticide spray? 'm [/background][background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]As a precaution I'm starting my seeds in the basement (plants are in a heated,detached garage). [/background]
PrOdigal, what insecticidal oil do you like to use with the dish soap? Brand or active ingredient. And what as a follow up? I[background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]nsecticide, miticide spray? 'm [/background][background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]As a precaution I'm starting my seeds in the basement (plants are in a heated,detached garage). [/background]
I got aphids on my ghost chili plant and two tepins and i put them outside for about 2 weeks in this cold nyc weather (not freezing but very cold most days) and they lost all their leaves so i trimmed them down to bonsais and borught them in repotted and hosed off. they look great so far.
So I'm brewing a bath of garlic, water and dish soap. Tomorrow the plants will get a nice dip, followed by a dusting of diatomaceous earth. What do you guys think, should that help?
Gave up on the "organic" methods after several months.
"Semi organic" (pyrethrin) and removal of the most infected leaves did the trick.
Grow room (man cave) covered in diatomacious earth powder and funky smells from various recommended concotions.
Took them all outside, hosed them all off, and a generous spray of pyrethrin before bringing them back inside finally killed the little buggers.
No more wasting a couple hours a day with a magnifying glass only to have to do it over and over again.
As for garlic mixtures and DE-------been there, done that.
They seem to work for a few days.
Maybe try it again on outdoor grow in the spring, but inside makes a stinky mess.
"Semi organic" (pyrethrin) and removal of the most infected leaves did the trick.
Grow room (man cave) covered in diatomacious earth powder and funky smells from various recommended concotions.
Took them all outside, hosed them all off, and a generous spray of pyrethrin before bringing them back inside finally killed the little buggers.
No more wasting a couple hours a day with a magnifying glass only to have to do it over and over again.
As for garlic mixtures and DE-------been there, done that.
They seem to work for a few days.
Maybe try it again on outdoor grow in the spring, but inside makes a stinky mess.
grr this things are annoying, when i had leafminers i was saying why can't i have a common bug like aphids like everyone else, damn careful what you wish for, these things are making some of play plants ugly with tiny leafs like if they need calcium or something., I'm gonna try what some of you guys are doing, been doing the soapy water with neemoil, it controls them but it won't get rid of them for sure. I'm thinking about that AzoMax i read in another thread here in the forums see how that works out. cause damn.
First off welcome to THP. Aphids will go after the youngest growth mostly,so maybe that is why they are staying clear of the larger leaves. We all get lazy,but not a good practice when bringing plants in. My biggest concern is my seedlings for the following year. Everyones situation is different,I only took in 4 plants,so I was able to do it on a shoestring. Some folks bringing in more might not want to spend money on new soil.They always end up with pests and spend more money,and time,battling all winter. Below are the products I used not including blue dawn dish soap. Don't use anything antibacterial or scented. Again,these steps are not set in stone,I am sure other people here have better ways. Good luck!
P.S. I used the one with fungicide. In my area,autumn brings a lot of rain,and cold weather. Usually some plants show signs of leaf spot or other issues. Some people use a very very very low dose of bleach in their soaking process.
I recommend doing all of things listed above. Then, if those things don't work buy some Azamax. Spray the foliage and follow the directions for soil drenching. That stuff is expensive but it works really well. I also use pyrethrin at 1% to spot treat any that were missed.
Thanks! It's kinda one of those "know better, didn't do better" things. We were having a nice warm fall that I kinda let it sneek up on me when it came time to move them. And it's not one of those complete loss situations either. I've been patient with them but like everyone says "enough is enough". I just got into overwintering them last year. My brainstorm was 5 gal buckets and giant plants. No bugs no issues. Except moving and lugging 20-30 lb plants! i've found more knowledge in the last couple of years on this sie (and others like it) than in all the other years (20+) of growing peppers. I get busy like we all do and once again taking shortcuts bit me in the butt. Hell, let's see.....Christmas shopping with the masses or quality time with some peppers killing bugs. Hmmmmm.I guess I'll put potting soil on my shopping list. I ordered my 2013 superhots over the weekend and have notices they shipped. New Years day I plant seeds! But first, time for some MIB bug hunt time!