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Major screwup and lesson learned...what are these insects?

Suncoast said:
Also, if using just Dawn and water, what is the preferred formulation?
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I use approx 2 tbs per qt for flea beetles, But I do not use it on aphids. I have never found it to work for them. Aphids are a whole different story.
 
CAPCOM said:
 
I use approx 2 tbs per qt for flea beetles, But I do not use it on aphids. I have never found it to work for them. Aphids are a whole different story.
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What would you recommend for the aphids?
 
+1 to what Solid said.
 
I'm having the same issue. Depending if you want to keep pesticides out you can give them a dose of Pyrethrin, which fixed my outdoor garden. But i would definitely try to stay away from pesticides wherever possible.
 
But those brown dots are from flies.
 
 
Suncoast said:
 
 
Unfortunately, beneficial predators are not an option for me.  My kids are being grown on a screened pool deck.  I am thinking the wife might take issue with wasps or ladybugs    :lol:
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Wasps and lady bugs are less harmful then the aphids you already have.
 
Suncoast said:
Unfortunately, beneficial predators are not an option for me.  My kids are being grown on a screened pool deck.  I am thinking the wife might take issue with wasps or ladybugs    :lol:
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I hate to break it to her, but there is no keeping them out. You've actually already got them going. (I see one of the aphid "mummies" in one of your pictures) Here in Florida, we have no problem attracting the beneficial bugs, naturally. The problem we have, is that there isn't enough predator wasps to get all of the aphids. We have major aphids, and they come in waves.
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I have to disagree that the soap doesn't work. It does. The problem is that the aphids don't stop coming. So you have to continually repeat applications. This is why it's so critical that you spray down your leaves after each application has done its work.
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Those black aphids are nasty. Green ones come and go every couple of months, and coincide with periods of rapid growth. (like now, and after summer cool periods, heavy rains, etc) I've not had the black ones in our neck of the woods, but I believe them to be worse than the green or orange ones.
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I'd suggest that you try either Neem or Azamax. You'll have to repeat applications, but not as often as with soap.
 
Well, its pretty much a moot point on these two plants as they are almost completely leafless.  The good news ( digging for a silver lining)  is that, due to the stress, the pods on both are ripening at record speed.  I am going to keep these two far away from the rest of my plants and see if, after pod removal, a strong pruning will allow them to kick back in.
 
Two final questions
 
Does anyone practice any sort of preventative regimen for pests?  Weekly soap sprays?  Bimonthly sprays with Neem Oil?  etc..etc.  Or do most pepper growers here stay completely reactive to the appearance of pests?
 
No one weighed in on including rubbing alcohol in the dish soap mixture.  Has anyone else here tried this?  Any response or input will be appreciated.  
 
I appreciate all the help.  I consider this season to be a learning one since it's my first so please consider that if you find me starting additional knowledge seeking threads
 
I am completely reactive, because being proactive for aphids isn't really all that gainful. You go through the same steps to prevent, as you would to treat, so why waste the effort?.
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I have not tried the rubbing alcohol. In fact, I usually don't do anything more than a daily hose spray, these days.
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You cannot "proactively" do dish soap treatments, because as I mentioned previously, dish soap method is a contact kill, only. You must hit the pest directly. They can eat the soap, they just can't be covered by it.
 
I woke up this morning to some major leaf drop. I sprayed a combination of neem (whole organic azadirachtin) and dish soap because of a leaf miner fly problem. I did it know I was supposed to rinse it of after twenty minutes. Dang my babies a almost bare will they come back?
 
I keep seeing soap, dish washing soap and Dawn used interchangeably in this thread but there is a difference. Some sources say only use  "pure soap" while others say "dish washing soap, I'll let you decide as YMMV. 
 
Pure soap.> How to Make Homemade Insecticidal Soap for Plants
Dish soap.> Homemade Whitefly Insecticide

I often wonder when I read that members find this treatment ineffective. Any other input on this? Anybody do a side by side or noticed a difference in effectiveness between the two? Or possibly problems as above?

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Since the first day i used neem, I never saw another aphid.  I do 1tbsp neem and 1 tsp castile soap per gallon of WARM water.  I treated twice per week initially, then one per week after that.  Works great for aphids.  It also seems to work well to reduce the leaf-eating worms on my basil and tomato plants.  
 
Gorizza said:
Suncoast I'd love to see an updated photo of these plants, how are they?
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Tthe Hab did not make it.  After a course of spraying on the Super Chile and a major cut back of the foliage, the plant is coming back strong
 
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