tutorial The Pest Guide

[stettoman]

Well it's been a couple weeks of watering exclusively with the SNS209 formula (1/2 tsp per gallon). It seems to becoming somewhat effective on C. Pubescens, and though there are still small colonies on some leaves, they aren't amassing as there were. There are actually a few Rocoto plants that appear to have warded them off completely, a Peruvian Red, a Rocoto Rojo and a Mini Brown, all suffering from resurgent robust growth. All others have some degree or another of regeneration following a pretty heavy onslaught...
 
The C. Chinense, Bacaatum and Anuum are another story. I find new large, leave-enveloping colonies on them daily, especially the P Dreadie SBs and my 3 year old Large Orange Thai.. I'm not an herbologist, so I have no clue why these plants are still at the mercy of these aphids, but it seems something about them makes the rosemary sauce ineffective. I even have the LO Thai and the afore-mentioned Rocoto Rojo placed side by each, pots almost touching...
 
 I shall persevere, if only for the assurance of ripe pods in Zone 3, a mathematical unlikelihood...

 

[Takanotsume]

I feel like just smothering aphids with soapy water has been the most effective for me.
 
Though I'm having a slight dilemma because their presence has attracted a number of hoverfly larvae to my aji pancas and I rather like seeing the creepy things doing their job, but don't want to kill them either by accidentally soaping them or them feeding on tainted aphids. I suppose I could just move them to another less important plant with aphids, though.
 
A horde of predatory mites has also settled on my charapita plant (I actually saw one of them seize a small whitefly and drag it under a leaf) so I feel a touch reluctant to do any spraying on that one either.

 

[CraftyFox]

I feel like just smothering aphids with soapy water has been the most effective for me.
 
Though I'm having a slight dilemma because their presence has attracted a number of hoverfly larvae to my aji pancas and I rather like seeing the creepy things doing their job, but don't want to kill them either by accidentally soaping them or them feeding on tainted aphids. I suppose I could just move them to another less important plant with aphids, though.
 
A horde of predatory mites has also settled on my charapita plant (I actually saw one of them seize a small whitefly and drag it under a leaf) so I feel a touch reluctant to do any spraying on that one either.

I can relate with that.. I've got two species of Aphid wasps in here, and having head strain trying to figure out which aphids are hosting and which aren't.. So I haven't even been soaping them. Last night I saw a chinch bug eluding me thru the area, which got me wondering what else is ducking me. Hoverfly are definitely more entertaining to watch than these frail little wasps. If I weren't finding new wasps daily, I'd swear the spiders were doing all the work.. If you want to call it that. Here's one of the males in his hammock, hasn't done more than a Hokie Pokie in 2 days.. Not that he needs to.
Cheiracanthium (Sac spider).. Probably the number 2 indoor predator here, next to the House Centipede, which doesn't really seem to dig peppers. Not my first choice for aphid control.. Hard to argue with free.
I've got an ad up on Craigs to see if I can pull some free ladybugs from the area.. There is usually someone being driven mad by them at an old farmhouse nearby. 

 

[acs1]

Nice pic, thanks for sharing.
The cluster of a dozen Aphids to the bottom right are all going to be wasps soon, they got hit by wasp...
 
So, does the spider sit there waiting to 'protect the wasp larvae/aphid, or eat it while it hatches, or both...?

 
.

 

[CraftyFox]

Nice pic, thanks for sharing.
The cluster of a dozen Aphids to the bottom right are all going to be wasps soon, they got hit by wasp...
 
So, does the spider sit there waiting to 'protect the wasp larvae/aphid, or eat it while it hatches, or both...?
 
.

Interesting.. How do you make the determination that they are hosting? I spend a lot of time examining them with a hand lens and can't seem to differentiate. I have multiple species of aphids in the grow.. Including M. persicae and M. euphorbiae, from what I can tell. I struggle to even find the mummies.. I'm guessing due to the fan. 
Those Sac spiders sat pretty much wherever I dropped them, for a couple days, until I turned out the lights. It's weird how they seem to switch to almost exclusively nocturnal when indoors.. But they are active most of the day during the season, when I find them in trees/shrubs. 
He pretty much sat there, pivoting in reaction to wandering aphids that encountered his hammock. There's at least a male and female in the grow, but I suspect there are more. I haven't seen them take a wasp yet, I worry more about the lights and other web-making spiders. They are likely sleeping under the rims of the basins now, but I don't go hunting them. 
 

 

[acs1]

Interesting.. How do you make the determination that they are hosting?
 

Its all in their tone/color...

 

[Takanotsume]

Those weird fuzzy egg masses keep showing up at very staggered intervals on my plants and my previous attempt at saving/hatching a batch to identify the insects within ended in failure.
 
I'm half-tempted to just let nature run its course this time and break out the sprays if they do happen to be something harmful because I'm just too curious about what they are and this time they're on one of my aji panca plants which are far too large for them to cause any substantial damage in a small time frame.

 

[stettoman]

About another week with the SNS 209, and I cannot say it isn't working; even the heavily infested LO Thai and P Dreadie SBs are showing huge improvement. Though I'm not quite to the point of recommending this product, I am obviously going to continue treatment. Daily inspection is finding fewer and fewer aphids. I can't count out a seasonal lull or dormant populations under soil.
 
I am also trying this on a containered bay laurel bush that has a huge infestation of mealy bugs, but have ordered a box of Imidacloprid granules just in case. I know the Imidacloprid will make the leaves useless as a spice, but I'm told this is the most effective on a bay, and this one is under massive attack... 

 

[CraftyFox]

It's good to hear that's starting to work Stetto.. Awfully long turnaround time for a chemical control. Did you ever put some lure plants in there, to draw their attention?
My Aphidius population continues to rise, but they don't seem to be making a notable dent in the aphid populations. Really wishing I had isolated and protected the Aphidoletes from the beetles early this year..  Tempted to go dig up soil around the Umbels I found them on and import a bucket or two of the topsoil in to roll the dice. I can't seem to find them online for a reasonable price or small quantity. They really aren't recommended for indoors, but I'm having trouble determining why.. Plenty of spider webs here for them to get frisky on. 
Orius are my list for next year. 

 

[stettoman]

It's good to hear that's starting to work Stetto.. Awfully long turnaround time for a chemical control. Did you ever put some lure plants in there, to draw their attention?
My Aphidius population continues to rise, but they don't seem to be making a notable dent in the aphid populations. Really wishing I had isolated and protected the Aphidoletes from the beetles early this year..  Tempted to go dig up soil around the Umbels I found them on and import a bucket or two of the topsoil in to roll the dice. I can't seem to find them online for a reasonable price or small quantity. They really aren't recommended for indoors, but I'm having trouble determining why.. Plenty of spider webs here for them to get frisky on. 
Orius are my list for next year. 

 
No lure plants intentionally, but the wife has a couple oddball houseplants among the peppers, one of them showing signs of aphid activity.
 
Our winters are ver-r-r-r-r-ry long here in zone 3. A few weeks to see results is really fast in that regard. There are a few small webs on a few plants, I just leave them be. Haven't seen a spider yet though.

 

[stettoman]

I'm going to submit my last impression on this SNS 209 rosemary extract systemic pesticide, and have to admit IT DOES NOT HAVE THE DESIRED EFFECT ON GREEN PEACH APHIDS. I've been drenching with every watering, even misted with it, and whatever minimal success I thought I was seeing is definitely not worth the money, at least for this specie of insect.
 
So no, I do not recommend SNS209 for use against green peach aphids.
 
I'll continue to use it, at least until this bottle is used up, on the off chance that it may one day do what it advertises. The aphids are the only insect pests I've noted on my OWs, so I got NO idea how effective this product might be on others, re: mites, etc...
 
That is all....

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

IT DOES NOT HAVE THE DESIRED EFFECT ON GREEN PEACH APHIDS. 
 
That is all....

 
Thanks for the update.

 

[Takanotsume]

Ouch.
 
I haven't had mite problems lately, but some mealybugs unknowingly made their way into the yard on some pepper plants the grand-dad donated and have since taken to harassing my plants, the aji pancas in particular. These are the super tiny ones that just look like little black specks beneath all their fluff. The yard already had the bigger varieties but I never found them an issue due to their lower numbers and being big enough to simply pluck off the plants by hand.
 
Been spraying them with soapy water but unless I rub it onto them afterward it doesn't seem to kill them consistently.

 

[stettoman]

I get the mealy bugs on my bay laurel, the bastiges will make quick work of it if you don't get after them early. But I get none on my overwinters yet....

 

[solid7]

These are the super tiny ones that just look like little black specks beneath all their fluff.

Are you sure that they're mealybugs, and not whitefly?

 

[Takanotsume]

The shape certainly resembles a whitefly nymph, but they only started showing up recently and there's less whiteflies then there were in the summer/fall months presumably due to the cooler conditions and lower humidity.
 
I've been regularly checking my pepper leaves and destroying any whitefly eggs that show up, too.
 
In any case, I suppose continued spraying will get them under control sooner or later.

 

[stettoman]

Only halfway through January and certain plants are losing bigly. Two worst infestations are my P Dreadie SB and my coveted LO Thai, pictured here:

I've lost a Turbo Pube, an Aleppo and a second P Dreadie to the aphids, as vigilant as I try to be the bugs are trying harder. Between them having two forms of procreation (eggs and live birth), I seem to be reliving the same battle, sometimes twice in a day.

The Rocotos have the bugs, but seem less appealing to them. I've noticed that they'll gang up on fresh-trimmed branch ends, like cattle to a trough...

I have imidacloprid, but that would effectively render any eventual pods inedible, yes?

 

[Bou]

I usually try to avoid using chemicals but sometimes it seems to be the only effective way to get rid of those nasties. I haven't testing it against aphids but Bug-X did worked pretty well against white flies rapidly spreading on my hop plants 2 years ago. Can be used "safely" untill the day before harvest too.
 

 

[Takanotsume]

Been trying all kinds of different scented soaps in my pest sprays and leaving various plants nearby to see if anything keeps those accursed leaf miners off of my peppers, but nothing seems work.
 
Neem, garlic, oregano, peppermint, and eucalyptus all don't faze them.
 
At this point I've decided to try growing some amaranth to see if it'll lure them away, but I'm wondering if maybe just getting a flower bush with an especially strong scent might keep them away entirely as the yard is pretty devoid of such.

 

[dragonsfire]

Their all superbugs now, all those gmo supercharging them.