Got aphids?

[RCKCRWLER]

I do, I think, and a ton of them at that! They are all over my pepper plants. Little green bugs and they are chomping away quite heavily. What do you do to control the pest population in your garden. I know ladybugs work but I have a problem paying for something that will fly away. Just looking for some ideas on how you handle pests. I would spray but fear the bees would be affected by it when they visit the flowers. Any help?
Thanks

[nell67]

I use self rising flour,the leavening agents react with water,or the fluids of the plants,causing the bugs to swell up and die

[BENESSE]

We had them when we lived down south. Used tons Safers soap spray (non-toxic) and it seemed to help. I am not aware of anything that will totally eradicate them without hurting everything else.

[Justin Case]

My Uncle had them bad on his bell peppers in his greenhouse, He would just wash them off with the hose w/ nozzle every couple of days, His Peppers were Perfect ! He always said Aphids dont eat enough to bother plants much.

His Pepper Plants Produced Properly Proportioned Perfect Peppers !

[Rick]

Plant marigolds and nasturtiums. Nasturtiums are really good for wooly aphids and squash bugs.

Spray the plants with a mixture of Dawn and water. It doens't take much soap.

[gryffynklm]

You could try Diatomaceous Earth. Its a fine powder that irritates crawling incest to death. It is non toxic, won't harm plants or pets. It might need reapplication if it rains. I like the non toxic nature of its effectiveness.

Here is an article.

http://www.epinions.com/review/Conce...t_236400840324

[grrlscout]

What Rick said.

Make sure to get the undersides of the leaves, and do it when it's not too hot out.

[crashdive123]

Yep - mild dish soap and water. Spray plants with a fine mist. Repeat as needed.

[RCKCRWLER]

Sweet! Thanks for all the suggestions, and the new tongue twister!

His Pepper Plants Produced Properly Proportioned Perfect Peppers !

[LowKey]

I only use diatomaceous earth on the ground for slugs and crawling bugs and only when necessary. It irritates ALL insects including the good carniverous beetles and bees.

For aphids, I do the dishsoap thing. Safers works a little better but its far more expensive.

Nasturtiums seem to be an aphid lure. The yellow ones in particular. The aphids prefer the nasturtiums and go there instead of your veggies. If you're gonna use em, plant them at least 3 feet away from the plants you are trying to keep the aphids off.

[RCKCRWLER]

Great info everyone, Thanks!

I am going to do the soap and water thing and then plant marigolds. I planted marigolds last year and forgot about doing it again this year.

[rwc1969]

Man I've never had aphids on peppers, but dish soap and water works pretty good. It gives em the runs and they leave.

I had an extreme case of them on a honeysuckle vine and roses , weekly or bi-weekly tretments pretty much eliminated them.

[grrlscout]

I think it works because the dish soap is a surfactant, and it weakens their outer layer. They dehydrate and die. So it works this way on all soft-bodied insects. I use Dawn, if I have a choice.

I've been using it on leafhopper larvae and cochineal scale too, since they have a waxy coating. It dissolves their protective coating, and exposes them. It's a little more slow-acting on those things, and I have to re-apply often. But it seems to help.

[Rick]

A couple of words of caution. If you use soap it has to land on the pest to work. Also, if you use soap it will kill Predatory Mites as well. That's about the only beneficial insect that soap bothers.

[crashdive123]

Not sure if the following is true for all insects, but the soapy water solution smothers the insects (clogs their spiracles).

[Rick]

Well, I can tell you the last thing on earth I want to have happen is to get my spriracle clogged. That sounds truly painful.

By the way, olive oil works. Unsaturated long-chain fatty acids make an effective insecticide and olive oil is high in them.

[Blasfemo]

We had them when we lived down south. Used tons Safers soap spray (non-toxic) and it seemed to help. I am not aware of anything that will totally eradicate them without hurting everything else.

I actually made some reasearch not long ago regarding this for my moms garden and some other stuff i have, try to get some gallons of neem oil, i read a post from a Brasilian member he might help sending some, this is a rising export there, i get 30CL at a time and its enough for 20 liters, i saw no delay on growth, aside the fact you need to repeat the treatment 7 days or if it rains a lot it did wonders on our greens here. You can add some garlic to your garden and the diatomaceous earth is also very useful if you have loads of snails and slugs

[mountain mama]

Lady Bugs!

yes, I did notice that you said you have a problem "paying for something that will fly away", but they aren't going to leave an all-you-can-eat buffet. I still have lady bugs around from several years ago when I put them out to rid my garden of aphids.

[RCKCRWLER]

Well I sprayed soap and water and planted marigolds. Next day no more aphids! I did have a couple of young praying mantis move in as well. Peppers are nice and big. My pepper plant leaves are falling off however and not sure why. It might be becaus3e of the heat I don't know.

[Blasfemo]

My pepper plant leaves are falling off however and not sure why. It might be becaus3e of the heat I don't know....

I have one stupid pepper plant and i absolutely hate it!! She is a moody *****, first she had problems with 2 much water in the first year manage to get her out to a medium enriched with perlite for draining that sure helped until summer came then she was yellow because water would not old and had to water it every day... second year i took a cutting and planted in a higher patch near home so she could drain better and in a more shady place this seems to work but i still very unhappy with it seems i will take at least another year to get some home made peppers... a tea of chicken manure once a month also seems to get her going, i think because she may be lacking nitrogen... try some maybe it will help out, by the way did your plant ever bare any fruit?