I bought a tray of peppers from a mom and pop place. I obviously didn't inspect them well enough, as I just noticed today they are covered with these. I can't see well enough anymore to be able to tell what they are. so I took a picture. I think they're aphids, but am not sure. Can anyone help?
Mellisa hi pretty lady. Been a while. Looks like aphids to me. Hose off the plant with a strong stream of water and spray the plant with dish soap water. You will have to keep a close eye on your plants because some or all aphids are born pregnant so they will be back. They like stagnant air so a fan is helpful . Some say stressed plants attract aphids so give them a good feed and up pot or plant them soon.
On second thought take them back and get one without bugs .
This message was edited May 3, 2014 9:33 PM
Definitely aphids. Plant some dill in your garden near your pepper planting to attract ladybugs and they'll take care of them. But do as eweed says for an initial knockdown if you decide to keep them. I don't know about Washington state but aphids are an ever-present problem here. Ladybugs absolutely LOVE dill. When my 7-yearold grandson comes to visit I have him do lady bug round-ups for me. Just the larvae, though, because they'll stay put when you place them on the plants. I release the adults in the greenhouse to help out in there.
Hey Ernie! Yes, it's been a while, I've been around some, but not very much. I don't see any moving on them right now, so hopefully I won't until the new ones hatch. I'm afraid if I take them back, I'll just be trading one set with bugs for another set.
Cactus lady, thank you for the tip about the dill. :) I was just getting ready to start some, so I will put it by the peppers. :)
A week later, the peppers are thriving, and have grown a ton. No sign of anymore aphids.
Cactus lady, I had some dill here, so I started it to see if it was good. So far, it's not sprouted, so I'm going to pick up another packet of seeds, and I also picked up a couple of plants. I use dillweed a lot anyway. :)
"Ladybugs absolutely LOVE dill"
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Also, in late summer brightly-colored spiky-looking yellow-and-black, orange-and-black, or red-and-black caterpillars will appear to feed on any patch of dill weed as fast as they can eat it. There's plenty of dill by that time, so sharing some with the caterpillars won't hold up any pickling projects.
Don't hurt those 'pillars - there are different species depending on location, and they all turn into various kinds of beautiful big swallowtail butterflies!
Thanks Ozark!
