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pests Aphids......

RandyYJ

RandyYJ

Hello everyone,

I have my plants in solo cups in the greenhouse but I lifted up a leaf today and saw tons of aphids. I planned on planting outside this weekend, so would I be better off ordering some ladybugs today and releasing them this weekend inside and give them a week to eat the aphids, or can I turn the plants upside down and dunk them in a 5 gallon bucket of soapy water and then transplant them into 5 gallon buckets for outside? Which will be my best option for killing the bugs?
 
Yeah the soapy water sounds better, and it will be way cheaper.

You should consider using NEEM oil. It is completely safe for humans/pets, but destroys most bugs including aphids. Basically this stuff is a lipid that will interfere with the reproductive cycle of the bugs. It acts as an anti-feedant, repellent, and egg-laying deterrent. So they starve to death, can't stand to be on your plants, and cannot reproduce.

Not only is it safe but you can directly spray your peppers 24 hrs prior to harvest, and straight up eat your pepper without worrying about the neem oil the next day. In some countries they actually use neem to cook with. :P
 
If I plan to turn them upside down and dip them in a bucket of something, would Neem oil be better or soapy water? Which is more effective?
 
Did a little internet searching. Not sure if I can find Azamax or Neemazal locally in enough time to hit them this weekend. Non-organic pesticides are tempting, but I'm going to stay away from them right now. I'm thinking mixing a bucket of soapy water with a little neem oil and dunking them in it.

How much soap and what kind in 5 gallons of water?
 
If you use neem oil there is no need to add soapy water. Ive never used soapy water personally, so I cannot advise how much soap to use.

Good Luck!

May your peppers grow hot :dance:
 
I would do both.... rise off now then release ladybugs outside... nothing like having a host of beneficial bugs around. Search for how to keep them near your garden.

- Mega
 
Get the aphid wasps.

I used them 2 yrs ago indoors.Thaught they ALL died/starved or whatever.

Today I looked at a leaf on a Manzano outside and saw a couple aphid mummies.

I've only used them indoors assuming they died and starved and never made it outside.
The wasps are way better than even lacewings as far as aphids goes.
Ladybugs are light weight compared to lacewing larva for protecting plants from general pests.
Only used them outside.Adults can't lay eggs without first eating pollen.

Wasps rule the aphid world.BUT only attack aphids.
PLUS they are cool to watch.
Only pest I have to deal with is grasshoppers,Crickets,scale and white flies anymore.
Scale and White Flies is easy.The crickets and grasshoppers suck.
They don't kill the plant but chew the pod stems so the pod gets screwed up.Drops,no seeds or just plain sucks(doesn't mature).

Natural stuff like BT is expensive and has a short shelf life.
Gotta buy more than I need etc.
The poison stuff for crickets and hoppers kills everything.It's usually a bait type thing that effects other critters.Can also make my dog VERY sick if she gets exposed to it.
Heidi likes to snoop everything that she can snoop.
 
I dipped them all Friday, and I'm going to again on Monday. I had planned on planting outside this weekend but we got a little cool front. Ladybugs will be in this week. I ordered some just as a precaution, I could release them outside if I had planted this weekend.

Looks like I slowed them down alot, and after a dip on Monday I'll know if I got them or not. I've had an aphid free winter all up until now.

I used 4 ounces of Neem oil and 1 ounce of dishwashing liquid in a 5 gallon bucket.
 
I very pleased with how many I killed. I did not dip again Monday because I couldn't find any alive. When I dipped them Friday, also sprayed the top of the soil in each cup in case any were hiding in there. Ladybugs have shipped, so if there's any left hiding they'll probably be lunch.

On a more somber note, I didn't realize it was going to freeze the other night, and I have some severly frostbitten cayennes. I'm going to trim back and I hope they'll make it.
 
Nice job on the Aphids. I've got a spell of them myself, trying to fight them with Bondide...we'll see what happens. If anything, I'll get the neem and give em a dunk.
 
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