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Pepper Maggots

thepodpiper

thepodpiper

Is there any cure for an infestation of these little Bastards


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Dale
 
I don't think you can do much once the maggots are in the pepper, the trick is to control the fly that lays the eggs there. If I remember correctly, yellow sticky traps are the only non-pesticide solution.
 
Ohh man, that totaly sucks to see a problem like this. I agree with Pam, you have to get rid of the creature laying the eggs :(

I can't relate to this in the garden, but I remember a cockroach problem, eeww yuck!!! I hate some of God's creatures!!!:lol:
 
I understand that the infected peppers are goners but how long do they lay thier eggs and do you think that a couple of flies could ruin thousands of peppers. I have seen some of the flies awhile back but not many I didn't have a clue what they were.

Dale
 
thepodpiper said:
I understand that the infected peppers are goners but how long do they lay thier eggs and do you think that a couple of flies could ruin thousands of peppers. I have seen some of the flies awhile back but not many I didn't have a clue what they were.

Dale
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Do you know what they look like??
 
thepodpiper said:
I understand that the infected peppers are goners but how long do they lay thier eggs and do you think that a couple of flies could ruin thousands of peppers. I have seen some of the flies awhile back but not many I didn't have a clue what they were.

Dale
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know. I've never had them on my plants. *knocks on wood* I've had some borers before, but not the pepper maggots.
 
That is one ugly fly. God help it if I ever see one. They obviously don't mind spice, I wonder if a mild soap spray would deterr them? I have read that they are actually in the soil, and that you should rotate crops(not always possible for us small gardeners).
They are helped and attracted by rotting peppers or vegetation in or around your garden.Good luck.
 
Woke up this morning to possible maggot problem. One of my biggest pods had a small hole bored into the side about 2/3rds down.

Cut it open to find a light green looking worm about 1/4" long inside.

Is it a maggot or something else? reason I ask is I thought that maggots grew with the plant and destroyed it from the inside out. I had that before on habs where they turned all rotten looking but the Bhut was health and clean until today when I saw the hole.

Any help would be aprreciated
 
I wonder how these get into the pepper??
do they get drilled into the pepper then hatch...or is it they dig into the pepper after they hatch??
 
Hey PodPiper sorry to hear about your peppers. My sister experienced pepper maggots this season as well. Sadly we pulled out 4 of her pepper plants just to be safe. The flies lay the eggs under the skin and then the larvae grow inside the pepper and eventually eat their way out. At that point they fall to the soil and burrow down up to 6" deep and wait for next season. So make sure you remove all fruit with signs of contamination. You can probably find pictures online but they basically look like a tiny dimple with a brown to blackish dot the size of a pin hole. As long as you remove and destroy the contaminated fruit you will be fine. After picking off over 60 peppers from my sister's plants we just decided it would be better to pull the plants out. I was even able to see the flies laying eggs at nightfall. They only lay eggs over a month to a month and a half period so I guess if you just kept picking the affected peppers off you might end up with some. Other than that I cannot help you but wish you the best of luck because they are really nasty creatures.
 
Hey Chris.

I had these this year, too. Lost all my jalapenos, bells and italias...

They seem to stay away from the ultra-hots, thankfully. Haven't seen any damage in my naga's...

Next year I'll have to hang traps...
 
Sorry to hear about that damn pest..Haven t experienced any yet but been told they can devastate plants:)
 
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