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pests Bugs

Can anyone tell me what bugs these are and if they harmful. If so what should I do?

Thanks

http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/homerunbaseballcards/?action=view&current=bugs001.jpg
 
Aphids and they are bad. They are not the easiest thing to get rid of. There are a few different options, Lady Bugs seems to work the best there is also soap baths that people seem to use. I remember reading some one using mouth wash soap and water. If you search for Aphids you will find a million posts on here.
 
I've never used ladybugs but hear great things about em. I've used a Garden Safe brand insect killer that worked well when I got my pepper plants and were covered with the little guys.
 
If you are lucky then a treatment a few times with some kind of insecticidal soap will do. Other wise get ready for the long haul. The daily beat down of the evil aphids is a regular part of my season. They will suck the life juice out of your plants. Ladybugs will certainly help especially if you have a large quantity of plants. To few and they will snack a bit and hit the road.

Good luck
Mike
 
Insecticidal soap should be your last resort, IMO. It kills your beneficials also and usually the pest bugs are the first to recolonize your garden. You set yourself up for an uphill battle by jumping right to chemicals. Especially for aphids. You will make much less work for yourself in the future if you invest in some ladybugs and avoid killing the beneficials you already have. Even your fingertips are perfectly adequate for aphids unless they get way out of control which should only happen indoors or after the use of insecticides.
 
Neem oil, Dishwashing liquid (not detergent), Garlic barrier, Listerine (Blue mint), Pyrethrin concentrate, there are other ingredients available to the home grower not wishing to own a store bought item that rarely ever work for me. And if it did I would have an empty bottle in a few days time needing more the next week. The home neem mix does work for me and I don't squirt the friendly's if I see them. They are usually bigger than the aphids.

I believe the quantity and location of plants infected determine the course of action. 1500 ladybugs are probably not welcome in your house. Bazblitz either is indoors or a porch maybe from the photos in his grow log. I agree about mashing with fingers indoors and small number of plants. Probably will have to do it a few times. Some of those are big. Aphids can reproduce very fast. Aj has a detailed chart graph growth rate here somewhere. I believe they can produce without mating as well.

If you purchase ladybugs they need something to make them want to hang around. They want a secure future for their offspring.

Hope this helps
Mike
 
if your plants are not bearing fruit yet there is also imidicloprid, if you are not averse to chemical pesticides anyway.
its a systemic... one application to the plant in my case killed every single aphid(and i had many thousands of them) i could find within 3 days.
 
You can find neem oil at home depot or lowes. It's usually a quart container which is way more than you could use in a couple years. There are smaller containers of it on ebay. Just keep your quantity's low to start out (teaspoon or less) in a gallon of water and stir. Spray the aphids early am or evening. Wet leaves in the heat of the day will burn the leaves. Observe the aphids you sprayed later on to see if they turn dark like brown or black (dead). Here is a link to your same question on this forum;
Good luck
http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/10598-aphid-question/
 
They are able to attack more indoors because of the lack of natural predators. Once you get them in your greenhouse or inside your home, you have to get them out yourself manually. Google home made white oil. It's simple and cheap to make at home.

One way to manually remove them is to take off all but a few of the leaves on the plant and thouroughly inspect the remaining ones for aphids a few times. With only a few leaves to check you won't miss any and you can squish them with your finger and thumb. It's drastic but the plant will grow back healthy leaves. This will set your season back a little bit and it's not an option if you have a lot of plants but it is the cheapest way. You have to be certain there are no places that any aphids could be hiding, like other plants. This is the best way to tackle them if you are overwintering.
 
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