water Will soapy water harm chilli pods? Will pods absorb soapy water?

[mtj]

This is the first time I'm dealing with any sort of pests attacking my habanero plant. Few days ago I noticed some aphids on my leaves, but I only started paying attention once I saw some sticky honey-like substance on my leaves and pods when harvesting them. Haven't had much time to deal with, but today I saw these buggers spread across the whole plant, so I gave it a nice shower with a teaspoon of dish soap mixed with 0.5 liter of water.
 
My question is, since it's pretty late in the season, and those pests are more or less frequent in early season when there's no pods on the plant:
 
1. I always give my ripe chillies a thorough rinse before consuming/making hot sauce, but will chilli pods absorb soapy water making them inedible? (perhaps stupid question, but I haven't found really any good answer to that)
 
2. Will it harm pods? I know I should've sprayed soapy water just locally and observe next 24-48 hours, but I will be on a bussiness trip again, so I risked it by spraying it all over the plant.
 
3. Noticed also a lot of holes in the leaves. Aphids don't cause that, do they*

 

[DontPanic]

Most common household soaps have detergent.  Pepper plants don't like detergent.
 
Detergent will do the most damage to the leaves.  I'm not sure what it will do to peppers if left there for 24-48 hours.  If you're using a common household detergent-based soap, it should be safe to taste-test the peppers.
 
The best approach is to get a detergent-free soap, like castile soap.  Dr. Bronner's is a popular brand of castile soap.  But detergent-free soaps are difficult to find in stores.
 
There's many threads sprinkled around this site discussing this topic.  They'll do a much more thorough job of going through the options, as well as helping you identify the specific problem that is affecting your plants.

 

[rickster]

i use lemon scented joy and spray everything insight. never had any problems. just don't use anti bacterial soap.

 

[acs1]

This is the first time I'm dealing with any sort of pests attacking my habanero plant. Few days ago I noticed some aphids on my leaves, but I only started paying attention once I saw some sticky honey-like substance on my leaves and pods when harvesting them. Haven't had much time to deal with, but today I saw these buggers spread across the whole plant, so I gave it a nice shower with a teaspoon of dish soap mixed with 0.5 liter of water.
 
My question is, since it's pretty late in the season, and those pests are more or less frequent in early season when there's no pods on the plant:
 
1. I always give my ripe chillies a thorough rinse before consuming/making hot sauce, but will chilli pods absorb soapy water making them inedible? (perhaps stupid question, but I haven't found really any good answer to that)
 
2. Will it harm pods? I know I should've sprayed soapy water just locally and observe next 24-48 hours, but I will be on a bussiness trip again, so I risked it by spraying it all over the plant.
 
3. Noticed also a lot of holes in the leaves. Aphids don't cause that, do they*

 
Dish soap at the very strong ratio you used is not good for the health of your plants. Some say any ratio of dish soap detergent is NG. If you are going to use soap best to use insecticidal soap at recommended mix ratio, or if you must use soap, a gentle organic type real soap like Dr Boners. Not a detergent like 'dish soap'. Detergent(and soap to a lesser degree) removes the natural protective coating/oils/wax from the leaves, it makes it easier for pathogens to get a foothold and infect the plants.
 
If your environment is anything like mine, then Aphids will not be the sole pest you're dealing with usually. If I have aphids I've got mites that come in on the legs of the aphids and white fly.  many pests hitch a ride with aphids and white fly. Many mites species you can't see without a >40x scope/lupe like broad mites that seem to love peppers...
 
Do you have ants..? They farm aphids and distribute them to every plant in your garden for the sought after 'honey dew'. Hard to beat the ant/aphid team without stopping the farmer ants first. That 'team' seems to be the most damage aphids can do. And they will be right back after a spray if the ants aren't kept under control. Ants will find any live aphids and restock their farm...
 
Take a leaf thats been infested and look at it under a scope or powerful lupe,, you might be surprised what you find. Most will probably be dead from the detergent you used but you'll see what else was there.
 
Instead of insecticidal soap or dish detergent, why not use organic neem oil in a emulsified mix,? It has more of a lasting effect, somewhat. And it will leave a brief repellent quality to your plant with no negative effect on fruit or plant. Actually it shines the leafs up real nice and plants look good and are pest free after a drenching neem treatment... For your neem mix, you can even use a surfactant made especially for plants that will be the least damaging to plants compared to even a mild soap. solid7 listed some in recent posts of his.
 
jmo

 

[solid7]

i use lemon scented joy and spray everything insight. never had any problems. just don't use anti bacterial soap.

 
   
 
I can promise you that you have just been lucky.  Detergents can, and often are, fatal to plants.  They remove the natural waxy coating on leaves, and leave the plant susceptible to bacterial infections, pests, etc.  In addition, removing this defense also makes the plant more likely to be frequented by pests.
.
Detergents should absolutely NEVER be used to spray plants.  There have been forum members who have lost, or nearly lost plants, in doing so.

 

[mtj]

Update:
 
First I would like to thank you all for your replies, much appreciated!
 
Today I used a hose and basically flushed the whole plant with water and most of the aphids fell from the leaves (probably already dead from soap I used last night), so the plant now looks clean and aphids-free. Like you said, I might've killed my plant spraying that soap on the leaves, but time will tell. It's the end of the season and next year I would've planted new plant anyway. Nevertheless, I still haven't found an answer to my question whether the solution I applied to the fully grown plant with pods starting to ripen will actually make them inedible/harmful for consuming. If I killed a plant, I can live with it, making  someone sick with "bad chillies" is the last thing I want.
 
 

 

[acs1]

Update:
 
 I still haven't found an answer to my question whether the solution I applied to the fully grown plant with pods starting to ripen will actually make them inedible/harmful for consuming. If I killed a plant, I can live with it, making  someone sick with "bad chillies" is the last thing I want.
 
 

 
Doubt dish detergent will make anyone sick if you wash off the pods before eating.
 
Your mix ratio of "teaspoon of dish soap mixed with 0.5 liter of water" is the strongest detergent mix I've seen, if not washed off your pods completely might give you a light bout of Montezuma's Revenge...
 

 

[solid7]

No, you're not going to "taint" fruit from any plant by applying a soapy water solution.

 

[mtj]

 
Doubt dish detergent will make anyone sick if you wash off the pods before eating.
 
Your mix ratio of "teaspoon of dish soap mixed with 0.5 liter of water" is the strongest detergent mix I've seen, if not washed off your pods completely might give you a light bout of Montezuma's Revenge...
 

 
Oops, I've read somewhere someone recommended 2 tablespoons for 1 Liter of water, so I said to myself naah, not gonna make it this strong, so I used 1 teaspoon..Seems like even this is too much lol. My bad.
Anyway, I soak all of my fruit in water for 15 minutes, before rinsing them 3 times anyway. Most likely an overkill but it's just a habit.
 

No, you're not going to "taint" fruit from any plant by applying a soapy water solution.

 
Thanks bud!

 

[solid7]

I wash all of the pods from my plants with detergent, after they've been picked.  I just put them in a big bowl, add a bit of mild detergent, and give it a mix.  then, I rinse them down until there's no bubbles.
.
It's really no different than eating off of dishes that have been washed in the sink or dishwasher.
.
I do advise not to pull the stem off before washing this way, though.  Keep the soap/detergent out of the soft tissue.

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

I wash all of the pods from my plants with detergent, after they've been picked.  I just put them in a big bowl, add a bit of mild detergent, and give it a mix.  then, I rinse them down until there's no bubbles.
.
It's really no different than eating off of dishes that have been washed in the sink or dishwasher.
.
I do advise not to pull the stem off before washing this way, though.  Keep the soap/detergent out of the soft tissue.

 

I do the same thing. Very quick soap wash and rinse them good. Works fine. I just dont want to be eating bird shit if i can avoid it.

 

[solid7]

I just dont want to be eating bird shit if i can avoid it.

 
That's my point, exactly. Or in my case, lizard shit, or rat shit, or tree frog shit, or...  
.
It's just so easy to avoid all that.

 

[acs1]

 
That's my point, exactly. Or in my case, lizard shit, or rat shit, or tree frog shit, or...  
.
It's just so easy to avoid all that.

 
Agreed, I use a soft vegetable brush and give each individual pod a quick gentle scrub before the rinse off. Never know what was on that pod your about to put in your mouth... Although, must admit, I've probably put things in my mouth that I've had no idea where they've been...lol
 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

I see this again & again:
 
Now pour 2 tablespoons of dish wash liquid.
+ dishwashing liquid,
What is insecticidal soap? Is it just fancy way of saying dish soap.

Dishwashing liquid is not soap....> Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe:

Pure Soap: Use a pure liquid soap, such as Castile, or all-natural soap. The active ingredient in insecticidal soap comes from the fatty acids in animal fat or vegetable oil, so it’s important to use the real thing. Don’t use detergents (which aren’t actually soaps)
 
NECM