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pests Spinosad...aphids...fail

Roguejim

Roguejim

I have an overwintered Butch T in my living room window that was previously attacked twice by aphids, I went the organic route both times and used Organocide 3-in-1 Garden Spray. This product claims to be a fungicide, miticide, and insecticide. It contains 92% fish oil, 5% sesame oil, and 3% lecithin. It failed both times because the aphids came back a third time, in a matter of just a couple of weeks. So, my local nurserymen sold me this other product which contains spinosad:
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I drenched the plant with it about 5 days ago, and the aphids are back today. I applied it again, so I'll wait for their return. Next option will be chemicals. At this point, I'm unimpressed with organic pesticides.
 
I haven't had much luck with Spinosad and aphids. It works great on lots of other pests, but it doesn't seem to touch the aphids. Azamax or pyrethrum are my organic choice for aphids.

Plenty of options out there for chemicals. Nuke em if you got to!
 
I've only used Doktor Doom miticide for major infestations. It is Pyrethrin based so technically it is organic / all natural. Even though it says it is a miticide, it does wonders on aphids as well.
 
I agree there are other methods. Some chemicals can't be used indoors though. "Sevin" will knock the crap out of most bugs, products with Permethrins or Tetramethrins will rid a list of pests that corrupt vegetation. None of those are organic, though. Is there a fine line when to switch over ? Maybe the difference between having a few pests hanging around compared to an epedemic...
Stay organic with the edibles.
 
I've had very good luck with soapy water to keep the whitefly, aphids and ants away but now I'm fighting broad mites and its not working as well :( Today I tried dusting with diatomaceous earth, not sure that will do anything but I read some have had luck with it. I don't wana go chemical either so keep us informed, thanks for posting Roguejim.
 
I notice that nowhere on the bottle, or inside the label does it claim to kill aphids. I took the nurseryman's advice on this one. I just sent an email to Bonide, Inc., to see if this product will kill aphids. If they say "no", I'm going to try and get a refund from the nursery, or just keep it in case I get some other type of insect infestation. I don't want to resort to chems, but at this point, the plant is not flowering or producing fruit. I'll report back on what Bonide says.

Email from Bonide:

Good Afternoon,

We would not recommend Captain Jacks for the treatment of Aphids on Pepper Plants as it has not shown that it will work on Aphids. We would recommend our Eight Insect Control Vegetable, Fruit and Flower Concentrate.

Thank you,
Dale
 
It sounds to me like if you go the organic route, you can plan on having to respray periodically ,i.e., the bugs will eventually return...is this correct? Just wondering how often you can keep spraying with say soapy water before the plant starts to suffer.
 
I have never, personally, found great success with the soap and water method, so I dont know about that one. I do know that with organics you are going to have to spray so often because none of them seem to be 100% effective. Repeated use of Neem oil has caused me issues in the past and some Pyrethrum products can be phototoxic to pepper plants. Azamax has proven to work the best in my greenhouse on aphids, but I still have to spray every 3-4 weeks.

With aphids it is important to remember that they have a 2-3 day reproductive cycle, so most treatments should be reapplied 2-3 days later to kill the next generation that is hatching in the soil.
 
I had to destroy my 2 year old hab plant because of aphids, gave up.after they reappeared 3 times. its just not worth the time.
 
None of the organics have any long term residual, and they are not meant to. That is why they are safer on edibles. You have to keep spraying whenever you see the aphids return. If they are coming back quickly you may investigate other nearby plants and see if they are hosting the aphids (and ants). If they are treat those plants too. You may try neem oil but i find it gives the pods an off flavor if used on ripening pods.
 
Roguejim said:
I'm going with a bottle of Bonded pyrethrums, and a bottle of sulphur. I'll make my own bug brew.
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Really? why? You have so many positive comments about Azamax in this thread, why not try it??? I've had good results with it for fungus gnats and mites. I haven 't had the displeasure of aphids indoors but if I do, I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. Expensive, but works well.
 
I used bromide fruit and nut (sulphur base) with decent luck...then started releasing lady bugs every weekend until they ate all the survivors...I used a lot of find and squish along the way. Good luck! They're tough, but usually start to work themselves into a balance later in the season.
 
Jeff H said:
Really? why? You have so many positive comments about Azamax in this thread, why not try it??? I've had good results with it for fungus gnats and mites. I haven 't had the displeasure of aphids indoors but if I do, I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. Expensive, but works well.
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I took Pepper-Guru's advice.
 
WalkGood said:
I've had very good luck with soapy water to keep the whitefly, aphids and ants away but now I'm fighting broad mites and its not working as well :( Today I tried dusting with diatomaceous earth, not sure that will do anything but I read some have had luck with it. I don't wana go chemical either so keep us informed, thanks for posting Roguejim.
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Try liquid sulphur spray for broad mites WG ... proven to be the most effective organic defence against broadmites by far
 
Azamax is made from neem seeds so you can probably expect the same results you would find using neem oil.

I know everyone wants to grow organic and most frown on using chemicals. Deal with aphids and other insects long enough and you will either, go broke buying the "natural" insecticides, wear your hand out spraying your plants every three days, use so much soapy water when it rains the soil around your plants will bubble or lose your flippin' mind because you can't beat them. Right before you start drooling find a pesticide and be smart with it's use. They work and can be used safely on vegetables.
 
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