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overwintering My Over Wintering Project

patrick

patrick

My 7 Pot Brain Strain didn't make it, due to my own ineptness I'm sure so I replaced it with a Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion AISPES. This is one that I had in the isolation tent this summer. It had some buds on it when I brought it in from the garage but they all died and fell off. Going from almost no light to a lot of light and temps in the 40's to in the 70's is probably the culprit. However after a couple of weeks in better conditions I'm happy to say it is now "bud city"! Overall plant growth is minimal and it's shed a few of the lower leaves but I can live with that. The only problem I'm facing now is the freaking aphids. Thought I had them beat but it looks like I'm going to have to go NBC on them.

Here's a pic of the overall plant:


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And here's a close up of a little buddage babeee.

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Hey Patrick,

Sorry to hear about the aphids. Did you cut your plant back down to some main branching?
It's getting pretty tall.

Greg
 
Looks nice and healthy Patrick! You can try this stuff, its only $2.00 for S+H for a small sample bottle. Its made for mites but works on aphids as well. Totally safe no harsh chemicals. I ordered some. Worth a shot for only two bucks IMO.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. Well except for you lazy, what the heck am I supposed to try? :lol:

Greg I trimmed a lot of the side branches and a few off of the top. It is a bit tall but I can live with it.

I'm using Ortho ecosense brand outdoor insect killer that uses pyrethrins and canola oil. Sprayed the plant one evening, next morning found aphids loving life. Sprayed it again that night. Next morning the aphids were swimming in the stuff and basking in the grow light. Worthless with a capital WORTHLESS. I do appreciate everyone's suggestions.
 
Patrick...not saying do it now, but it may be a though for next year....do an extreme cutback on them and that will make insect control easier...you can essentially "dip" the cutback plant into a 5 gallon bucket treating the whole plant..JMO
 
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I hesitate to "recommend" a solution that worked for me, but I am still alive and well to the best of my knowledge/observation. Last winter I had an infestation of aphids that were resistant to everything i threw at them, both organic and non-organic! That is when I decided to use a systemic insecticide labeled for houseplants. It was a granular and the active was imidacloprid. The aphids were completely wiped out after 10 days of application to the soil! They never returned either. IMO this is ok as long as you don't consume any peppers produced by the plants over the next 3 months or so, which usually isn't an issue during overwintering anyway. I used any pods produced for seedstock only. I applied in January and only consumed pods produced from May onward. I later found literature that reported a study in which seedling/transplant Tabasco plants were treated once with imidacloprid in Costa Rica to give the plants a good headstart against pest pressure (whiteflies in this case if I remember). The plants don't start producing for another 3-4 months after transplant, so that is why it was approved.
 
My experiment 'capping' my over-winter plants with perlite 1/2-inch deep and dusted with Diatamaceous Earth is working. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I have had zero-zilch- nada gnats or aphids after 2 months out of the ground. Nothing else applied. Quite a change from last year.

You would probably benefit by re-potting, washing roots and all. I did this at beginning of season, but I think you could do it now also. Plants will be set back, but have plenty of time for rebound.

Anway--the treatment: For the first application, use the little foam brush to 'paint' everything--aphids, leaves, stems, container edges. (Shot glass with DE for size reference.) Also, sprinkle the DE sparingly on the perlite top. Using bottom watering to keep the cap dry, or water slowly and carefully from the top. Reapply DE as needed--it needs to be dry to work. Aphids will be shredded--they cannot walk anywhere there is DE. Further applications might only require painting the stem trunk.

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Looking good Patrick, sorry to hear about the brain strain. I will back pepper jam on this one, Guru got me using it and I got a bunch of others to use it, everyone had perfect results. I actually ran out of it, didn't wanna order a new one till spring so I went to the local hardware store and bought Bonide Insecticidal Soap, multi-purpose insect control. That also is working like a champ :) I haven't had a problem with any Bonide Products yet.

Good luck
Brandon
 
Glad its working for you guys. There are a lot of practices that can reduce the chances of getting aphids, but if you're already harboring them, then there are many natural compounds that will wipe em out the first time. Pyrethrin and sulphur being two of them. In combo with each other, I've found, is a 100% cure all. I speak in long winded, great lengths about these organic compounds in just about every thread I start. Guess its just one of those things some people can't grasp until they try it. Good luck with all your aphid endeavors!
 
Thanks Lazy, that helps. Ha!

Thanks AJ. I did that last year with the plants I wanted to overwinter and it was successful to a point. I want this plant to produce peppers for me now so cutting it back to nothing would have slowed the process down considerably.

Thanks to you too Indiana_Jesse. Like I said in my reply to AJ I want this plant to produce peppers I can harvest and eat now! Having to wait three months for the pesticide to wear down enough so I can eat them kind of moots the point.

Siliman that's just too much work for my lazy butt to do.

Cedar and Guru thanks to you two also. I'm going to get the heavy armor out and kill these bastages.''

I did manage to get rid of the gnats flying around the top of the substrate by putting used coffee grounds on top of it.
 
patrick said:
Siliman that's just too much work for my lazy butt to do.

I did manage to get rid of the gnats flying around the top of the substrate by putting used coffee grounds on top of it.
Click to expand...

yea, I made it sound hard. Short version: Dump in perflite. Lace area with DE. Done

I tried coffed grounds for gnats last year. No go. Just made them more jittery. You'll think you got them and they come poking their ugly heads out of the soil next day or two.

Anyway, good luck, man. Go with Bonide product Cedar and Guru mentioned, and nuke them, it sounds like a winner. I know I'll get some if my first line of defense fails. Still got about 4 months to go...
 
Also, the sulphur and pyrethrins really aren't "heavy" or a "nuke" as far as poisonous chemicals go. In fact they are completely natural, organic and safe. Up to day of harvest actually. All the sulphur does is raise the ph of the foliage. The pyrethrin is just juice from the seed husks of pyrethrum plants. Its NON residual (unlike most insecticides) and degrades quite rapidly once introduced to oxygen. They are the only compounds I would have around my family and home. Also, you can make your own and don't have to buy anyone's "product".
 
Thanks guys. I am going to give P-Guru's advice a try. I really, really don't want to go chemical. Got to make sure the other multi leg critters in my house aren't harmed.
 
Yeah, don't Spiders eat bugs? kidding. Your spiders prolly eat small dogs and some children, crunch crunch. LOL. Good luck with your grow.
 
Good one Scoville DeVille. I seen a couple of small jumping spiders on the plant and was hoping they would take up a permanent residence but they didn't.

I ended up using the Ortho Max I had, hard to find bug killing sprays this time of year. I'm using a small paintbrush and going over the areas with pods and doing a bit of search and destroy. I freaking hate aphids.
 
Well it is obvious you have an internet connection; is there any reason you can't order some "bug killing spray" online? Hope you get it worked out patrick. I hate the aphids too!
 
Guru, there are a couple of local places that sell the Bonide spray. I'm just reluctant to spend more money on bug killing stuff when I already have some that I know works. However, I'm going to break down and get some as I'm so tired of trying to keep up with the aphids with a 1/4 inch paint brush.
 
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