Can you ID this parasite for me (photos)

Turbota

Turbota

I live in south Florida, so my Thai red pepper plant is in the stage of producing peppers right now. 
 
But, I have a problem ... I have this white powdery substance on the under side of some of my leaves. The powder will wipe right off if you rub it with your fingers, but it is causing a good amount of the leaves to just fall off.
 
This plant is in a pot and in my screened-in patio, so not too many bugs get to it, but something has.
 
Here are 3 photos of the underside of the leaves (none of this is on the top-side of any of the leaves).
 
Last photo is as close as I could possibly get my camera
 
Any idea what is causing this, and how to get rid of it?
 
Thanks :)
 
 
Bugs1.jpg

 
Bugs3.jpg

 
Bugs2.jpg
 
Something you might have missed . . . . . .
Pick one of the puffs gently and wipe away the powdery stuff GENTLY
Do you see that little worm thing hiding under the fluff?
 
I had these this year on a few plants,never found out what exactly it was but a trip to WM for some garden fruit/veg pest spray
and it run them off real good.
 
Thanks a bunch to everyone .... I will try scraping on those white powder balls to see if something is inside them, when I get better light. This stuff is so small, my eyes just can't really see it any of it good enough.
 
I was thinking this white powder was caused by those 'White Flies', but I guess I was wrong.
 
Anyway, I am going to do some Google searching on 'Mealy Bugs' .... They are causing leaves to fall off an otherwise healthy plant.
 
Looks like aphids as well. Ladybugs will get rid of them, too. I use buglogical.com to order ladybugs, if you don't have a good local supplier you might give them a try.
 
Well, after doing some reading about killing Mealybugs, they say that after washing the plant with water to get rid of the white powder, then I should dab the infected area with rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab ... That just seems to be too time consuming, so I mixed a real strong solution of water and Malathion and sprayed the entire plant ... really soaked it good (bottom and top of all leaves).
 
Hopefully, this will kill these nasty bugs ... if it don't kill the plant too!
 
If the plant dies from the Malathion, I guess there is always next year. That Malathion really stinks! .... I don't see how these bugs will ever survive the strong Malathion treatment they got tonight!
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What's really interesting is that I have a Thai Basil plant in a pot right next to the pepper plant, and these Mealybugs won't have anything to do with the Thai Basil.
No bugs at all on the Thai Basil ... I am thinking that the leaves just have too strong of a smell for the bugs.
_____________________________________
 
geeme said:
Looks like aphids as well. Ladybugs will get rid of them, too. I use buglogical.com to order ladybugs, if you don't have a good local supplier you might give them a try.
Click to expand...
 
Yup .... Ladybugs would be the ideal solution, but all I have is the one potted pepper plant, so I just can't see the justification of buying Ladybugs.
 
Ladybugs, or even better mealybug destroyers are great. I got lucky a couple of months ago while we were staying at my in laws before moving into our new house. They had some weeds around that were loaded with mealybugs, yet they hardly touched my peppers thanks to ladybugs and destroyers. Also think the assassin bug nymphs helped as well, tho they'll eat anything good or bad.
 
I have this problem in the winter when I'm overwintering my plants, I just spray down the plants with some homemade insecticidal soap with red pepper powder in it, kills them dead.   D.E. powder and some hot pepper powder mixed in and then dusted on the plants will help kill any thing else that might try and eat your plants.
 If you use a really strong pesticide it could also burn your plants and could even kill them.
 
wildseed57 said:
 
 If you use a really strong pesticide it could also burn your plants and could even kill them.
Click to expand...
 
That's what I am worried about ... Well, I guess the plant will either be alive (minus the bugs), or be half dead in the morning when I wake up.
 
We shall see
 
There are about 30 or more small peppers on it now that haven't started to turn red yet. I really would hate to loose them.
 
Turbota said:
 
That's what I am worried about ... Well, I guess the plant will either be alive (minus the bugs), or be half dead in the morning when I wake up.
 
We shall see
 
There are about 30 or more small peppers on it now that haven't started to turn red yet. I really would hate to loose them.
Click to expand...
 
A well watered plant is much less likely to suffer from a pesticide application.
 
Malathion is rated for up to 7 days from harvest. I double these numbers myself to be on the safe side.
 
Yah good old Chlordane, I use to spray it all over the place when I worked as a pest control specialist. It worked great on fleas, ticks and roaches till they started to be immune to the stuff, a good many pest controllers came down with a rare blood disease from spraying the stuff. I was lucky that it didn't happen to me thats why I try not to use pesticides unless I just have too, If I could afford using bugs to fight other bugs I would,  but using D.E. and hot pepper powder and insecticidal soap works pretty good and if things get ugly I can always add a little Seven dust to the mix.
 
I live in miami and I have this problem all the time. I use a variety of treatments that are organic. The first is, even if it's just one pepper plant I still suggest getting the lady bugs. I'm willing to bet you have a ficus and or a gumbo limbo like me which attracts these suckers. In the garden, it mainly affects the peppers and tomatoes, everything must be established indoors first for me. The treatments I use are 1. ladybugs which will stay around for a long time. 2. the bug blaster spray nozzle which attaches to a hose and 3. a spray solution of hot chili peppers, dr bronner's sal suds soap and a tad bit of neem + tea tree oil. shake it up and spray and the bugs will go away! (temporarily). when it gets cooler they start to leave though

By the way, I'm willing to bet it's white fly except the flies aren't there on the leaf because you disturbed it. shake the plant and tell me if you see little whit specks fly around ;)
 
Ewwww malathion :mope:
I used to use that stuff all the time as a landscaper during my younger years....nasty smell.
 
I would suggest, as many already are, to go a little more organic on something you plan on eating. I like to use Organocide. You can find it at most farm & garden places and even big boxes like Lowes and Home Depot. Other homemade recipes work too.
 
Hawaiianero said:
Ewwww malathion :mope:
I used to use that stuff all the time as a landscaper during my younger years....nasty smell.
 
I would suggest, as many already are, to go a little more organic on something you plan on eating. I like to use Organocide. You can find it at most farm & garden places and even big boxes like Lowes and Home Depot. Other homemade recipes work too.
Click to expand...
 
+1 for Organocide. It's easy to get your hands on.
 
As a note, before moving everything back in to my greenhouse I usually do Copper + Neem Oil + D-Limonene treatments once or twice before moving everything in to the greenhouse.
 
Liquid Copper should be used infrequently, and not near the time of harvest. Prevent as much as possible from reaching the soil.
 
D-Limonene Naturally irritates many types of bugs, and therefore drives them away. I spray food grade D-Limonene all over my greenhouse and plants during the winter to prevent the inevitable whitefly invasions. You need to be careful with D-Limonene though, as it can burn stuff up, and plants may react poorly if too much gets in the soil.
 
Notes:
 
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem_oil
 
Formulations made of neem oil also find wide usage as a biopesticide for organic farming, as it repels a wide variety of pests including the mealy bug, beet armyworm, aphids, the cabbage worm, thrips, whiteflies, mites, fungus gnats, beetles, moth larvae, mushroom flies, leafminers, caterpillars, locust, nematodes and the Japanese beetle. Neem oil is not known to be harmful to mammals, birds, earthworms or some beneficial insects such as butterflies, honeybees and ladybirds (ladybugs in US English)
 
BigB said:
I live in miami and I have this problem all the time. I use a variety of treatments that are organic. The first is, even if it's just one pepper plant I still suggest getting the lady bugs. I'm willing to bet you have a ficus and or a gumbo limbo like me which attracts these suckers. In the garden, it mainly affects the peppers and tomatoes, everything must be established indoors first for me. The treatments I use are 1. ladybugs which will stay around for a long time. 2. the bug blaster spray nozzle which attaches to a hose and 3. a spray solution of hot chili peppers, dr bronner's sal suds soap and a tad bit of neem + tea tree oil. shake it up and spray and the bugs will go away! (temporarily). when it gets cooler they start to leave though

By the way, I'm willing to bet it's white fly except the flies aren't there on the leaf because you disturbed it. shake the plant and tell me if you see little whit specks fly around ;)
Click to expand...
 
 
I also thought they were whiteflies when I first saw them. Had the same problem few months ago, not an infestation so just rubbed them off good, the larva under the fuzz as well.
 
the weather is cooking down in florida, hopefully it stays like this. between the increase in wind and decrease in temperature, i'm hoping they go away for me so i can bring all my plants outside. good luck to you!
 
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