ISSUES! Help!

[Jeffross1968]

I'm in western NC. Grew lots of peppers this year, and wanted to try and overwinter two plants inside. They've been inside for weeks now, and were doing very well. A ghost, and a chinese 5 color. Unfortunately, something has gone horribly wrong.
 
Both plants still had peppers on them to mature, so I did cut them back just a little bit. They are in the same 5 gallon buckets they were planted in all summer. I had noticed what looked like some black spots under the leaves a week ago, but frankly forgot. Today, when inspecting the plants, I found that every leaf is covered underneath with what look like some kind of black droppings. The tops of the leaves have little white things on them, and the whole plant, all leaves and even the peppers are covered in some kind of sticky substance! The ghost pepper appears to be dying. The leaves are beginning to curl and fall off. I'm at a loss! Here are a few pictures...
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

[ronaldo_fanbelt]

Looks like aphids to me, but I'm a noob.

 

[juanitos]

you've been infested.
 
soaking them in some water with a little insecticide will be best. (the whole plant, pot, and soil)
this will get all the bugs off the plant, kill them, kill the eggs.
if you still have problems it may be easier to just take the plant out of the pot, completely spray it off including the roots, trash the soil, clean the pot with some bleach, repot the plant in clean pot with some clean soil.

 

[BigB]

Similarly, boil some hot peppers or red pepper flakes in water, strain and add a bit of soap to the water in a spray bottle. they'll be gone for a few weeks. I also have a hose attachment called the bugblaster which is good for taking those things off without harming the plant

you've been infested.
 
dunking them in some water with a little soap or insecticide will be best.

 

[Geonerd]

APHIDS!!!
GOBS of the monsters!
 
IMO, it's way too late for ladybugs or parasitic wasps. 
 
if you don't happen to have one of these handy gadgets laying about...

 
I'd suggest a Pyrethrin based, aerosol-driven spray of some sort.
Place the plants in a garbage can or similar closed area and apply a few blasts of fine pesticide mist to the air above the plants.
Apply lid let sit for 20 minutes.
Inspect closely for survivors and repeat if necessary.
Don't go all overkill on the bug spray.  While Pyrethrins biodegrade rapidly, too much of any chemical can injure the plant.
 

 

[Mr. Hill]

Only thing I found to kill them with out Chems is "Might X"  Killed aphids when nothing else did. 

 

[nzchili]

Imidacloprid   

 

[queequeg152]

yea imidicloprid makes the most sense in this situation. after a few days... one should probably spray the plant down so as to remove all the aphid corpses. that's a nasty infestation.

 

[Peter S]

Jeff,
Reading this got me paranoid about my overwinters, as I haven't really paid them a lot of attention the last week or so. Looks like I have some aphids too, glad I saw your post. I live in western NC too.

 

[Phil]

Yep. That's a seriously bad aphid infestation. Follow the advice above

 

[John1234]

Imid would make sense early in the season. On a fruiting plant.....blech

 

[Dave2000]

Similarly, boil some hot peppers or red pepper flakes in water, strain and add a bit of soap to the water in a spray bottle. they'll be gone for a few weeks. I also have a hose attachment called the bugblaster which is good for taking those things off without harming the plant

 
If you add the soap to the water before you strain then you will get more of the *good stuff* in solution... just don't let it keep boiling or there's a bubbly mess in the making.

 

[dday]

Since it is in a pot, take it outside spray it down liberally with a hose and repeat a few days later. Bugs b gone.

High pressure and don't spray the soil too much. I recently had problems with aphids also and did this. Bugs were gone and my peppers were happy

 

[Jeffross1968]

Well, I tried the hot pepper boil. Pretty much gasified and chased everyone out of the house, LOL. Added the soap and sprayed them down. We'll see how it goes. I really appreciate the help. Were those aphids destroying the whole plant? Will they bounce back?

 

[nzchili]

Yep they can kill the whole plant if left unchecked and will destroy the productivity of a plant if not dealt with soon enough.
 
It should bounce back, though they can also spread disease to the plant which can cause it to grow weird, with curled up leaves and not be very productive. 

 

[Jeffross1968]

Lovely. Well, this was the first year trying to overwinter a couple plants. Lesson learned.

 

[Delta]

After being absent from THP for a month or so and coincidentally not paying enough attention to my own overwinters, I have discovered an infestation not far off the above photos. I sprayed the heck out of each plant, pot, saucer with Murphy oil soap/alcohol/dish soap/water. I still see aphids today so I'll repeat a few more times as this has worked in the past. If it doesn't work, I'll definitely try all of the above. Thanks!

 

[nzchili]

If you plan to overwinter it, its got lots of living left to do so just hit it with the imid
I had to check for aphids pretty every day until I tried this stuff..
 
It dosen't kill outright as quickly as pyrethrium etc but IMO makes up for it due to the fact it basically makes the plant poisonous to sucking insects on an ongoing basis...
Aphids & sucking insects cant breed or live properly if what they are living & feeding on kills them from the inside out. 
 
They just get hooked on the (nicotine like) poison, live crap lives, don't reproduce and die never to return..they cant because the plant they are trying to live on is now literally poison to them, from the inside out.

 

[Delta]

Could someone please post more info on "Imid"? I really am not familiar with it. Thanks.
 
Sorry Jeffross 1968, I don't mean to hijack your thread.

 

[nzchili]

Could someone please post more info on "Imid"? I really am not familiar with it. Thanks.
 
Sorry Jeffross 1968, I don't mean to hijack your thread.

 
[SIZE=11pt]Imadacloprid, is an active ingredient, made by Bayer Crop Science, and is the main active ingredient in a class of insecticides called "Systemic" insecticides.  [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=11pt]"Systemic", is a term used to denote a circulatory system. What this means in context, is that the poison is absorbed by the plant, and is fed through its circulatory system through its leaves, stems, buds, flowers, everything - making the plant poisonous from the inside out.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]A couple of applications can make the plant permanently poisonous to sucking insects. [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=11pt]Some seeds are even treated with the chemical to make them poisonous to sucking insects from the get-go.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=11pt]Its available under several different names.  In pre-mixed, or granular forms.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=11pt]Iv got some orange tress, that were literally covered with hundreds of thousands of white flies last week. Looked at it yesterday after hitting it with the imid. Did not see a single living white fly. [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=11pt]EDIT; its a chemical though, and is as far from organic as you can get. Its like nuclear war..really steps things up a few notches. [/SIZE]