don't know what the top one is but the bottom pic is a mealy bug I believe. yes they love to infest your pepper plants.

Mealy bug like kypepperman mentioned or make sure it's not a wooly aphid. Either way both are bad and need to get rid of. Beetle not to sure but I don't think he would be hanging around long.

Mark

Kyperpperman and Mark, thank you for the information. The hedge is not far from the plants so I am a bit worry.

Caelian

The top one looks like a sucker, not a chewer. It could also be a predator. I wouldn't worry about him unless he brings all his relatives over from the old country.

Dennis

Updates:

I found this little one, is it a harmful insects or useful like Lady Bug?

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Thanks in advance
Caelian

The second pic looks like the beginning of white flies (aphids). Schmush them (no need at this stage to remove leaves) is your best bet. Kill them at once before they take over your entire crop (and they will).

When I was beginning I had a whole year of Ghosts gone up in white flies. Absolutely Nothing gets rid of them once they've infested. The only thing I haven't tried is lady bugs, but they're probably worth the investment (buy online).

The good news is that chilis (Ghosts) are perinials (sp?) so that they come back every year. Give 'em a little fertilizer and they'll come back, well, not as good as new but good enough to produce some peppers.

Those dang aphids are a curse!!!!

Actually green lacewings larvae are, I think, supposed to be a better beneficial than ladybugs to invest in. I believe they attack a wider range of pests.

With either one though, don't release them if you have an ant problem. Ants will protect the pests from ladybugs and they'll even eat the eggs of the lacewing cards that you get your lacewings in.

Also, the best way to keep them around from year to year is to create an "insectary" --- Plant flowering plants that the benificials can feed and breed on while they're not killing pests. Here's a link to one site that may help.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: click here

SmoakNFire and Kevin, thank you for your opinions and the useful link.

I will update when I got new pests and insects :-)

Caelian

Today I found some very small white fly around my stem cabbage and tomato plants. They are very mobile could not take a nice clear shot. Are they harmful insects? How to prevent all these insects?

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Thanks in advance.

Caelian

Very harmful and very difficult to get rid of. They won't eat foliage -- they'll cause diseases which are far worse than a few holes in some leaves.

Get on it NOW! Soap and neem oil treatments for now, but you'll have to stay very, very diligent.

Here's a couple links that may help. The second is another list of beneficial bugs and the plants that you may want to plant in future seasons to attract them and keep them around. You may want to purchase some RIGHT now.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7401.html

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/pest%20management/plants_attract_beneficial.html

Use the list in my previous post above to match up the beneficial(s) that you may want to purchase for whitefly infestations.

Good luck.

Kevin

Just I read a little bit about this whitefly but still I am looking for the best means to kill and prevent all of them. They are not a lot may be maximum 10. I used bayer's insecticide and sprayed, most of them were on the ground but I do not know still they are alive. They are too small and cannot find all of them.

Any advice and suggestion will be appreciated.
Caelian

Thank you Kevin for the link and advice. You are very fast, while I was writing my new post, you posted your post so I did not see it.

Thank you again for your contribution to this forum and sincerely I appreciate your effort to help me and others.

Caelian

Very useful link, Kevin. The picture of the whitefly in the first link made me nervous. I have checked under the leaves of my plants I did not see any of them. I think it comes from the hedge. I do not like to see them again.

Caelian

Caelian: It's the nymphs that are of a huge concern. First, they're tiny and don't FLY. Second, it's hard to spot them(mentioned above) unless you see the adults. The thing is their life cycle is a never-ending cycle. Once you have an infestation, it's VERY difficult to control. That's why people use yellow sticky cards to detect the first sign of them.

If I were you, I'd be spraying EVERYTHING(including citrus trees) with insecticidal soap and/or neem oil weekly for 2-3 weeks(then bi-weekly) while I wait for my order of some beneficials.in the mail. Head over to the Pests and diseases forum -- they may have better info than I can provide.

Once again, good luck. I'd hate to see all your beautiful plants get wiped out.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 15:15

Kevin, I never knew we have this "Pests and Diseases" forum before. I am so careless. Anyway, thank you again.

I am going to order neem oil and soap. I will do all my best to prevent all these insects.

Caelian

The white flies will produces larvae on the underside of the leaves. These look like tiny pencil-head size fluffy things. The aphids seem to concentrate on a few leaves at a time, the eggs hatch and that's when you're in trouble. I have found entire leaves that were so infested they looked like snow on the underside. Remove leaves like this at once, but you can just shmush the eggs if not too many.

I lost my entire first crop to white flies--fortuneately they produced a ton of peppers before they bit the dust. I pulled most of the plants up but left a few shriveled ones (after the flies sucked everything out and lost interest). That was 3 years ago, and surprise! With a little fertilizer they are making a miraculous come-back and producing beautiful chilis. The stems are over an inch thick!

Nothing works perfectly on white flies. Detect and destroy is the best. The next best solution I've found is using a systemic insect protection (Bayer Advanced Fruit, Citrus & Vegetable Insect Control.) You pour it on the soil when the plants are young (best) and the roots take it up through the plant system, kinda like a vaccine.

I now have a beautiful crop of Ghosts which are dripping with chilis. I expect to get about 10 pounds worth this season.

Having said that, I do spray with Neem/Soap every two weeks, but don't know if it really helps. I've tried just about everything before, from yellow sticky cards to Neem to illegal killer insecticide, but obviously my plants were so infested it was too late. It's truly a bummer when that happens.

Even with the systemic stuff, I check my peppers every day, and yes, sometimes I find the dang critters. Search and Destroy.

Chris

Chris, thank you for your opinion and advice.

I do not see any larvae under the leaves. Yesterday's whitefly may be come from the hedge. I do not see any of them today.

I have been doing search and destroy technique. I will do regular spray of neem oil and soap too. "Systemic insect protection" it sounds very good, I am interested and will try to get more information on the net.

This season I have lost many nice seedlings due to the sunburn/negligence and night frost (may be the term I used is wrong). I have learned my lesson for the next season.

I have heard about neem oil, soap and yellow sticky cards very often but I never tried any one of them. Once I used Bayer's insecticide to kill aphids and it burned all my flowers and new shoots/buds. Since then I am very hesitate to use insecticide and pesticide. Only I used it yesterday to kill the whitefly on the stem cabbage and tomatoes plants.

I keep watching my plants very often. I will update any progress and problems in the forum.

Good luck to your Ghost and I wish to see some pictures too.

Thank you again for sharing your experiences and knowledge here.

Caelian

Whitefly again, I saw about 3/4, I shot them down. It is only in the cabbage area, the same location, may be the cabbage attracts to them.

Caelian

Caelian,

I don't know anything about cabbage. But white flies will skip one plant in favor of another. Go figure. Seriously, order some ladybugs, they can't be that expensive. Or do some research and plant anti-pest flowers around your garden. I've heard these seem to work quite well.

I've included a photo of only one section of my first ghost garden. They were 5-6 feet high and produced a ton until the flies got to em. So sad...
Chris

Chris, if they skip the chili plants that's good for me. I was looking for some companion plants that can prevent some harmful insects but cannot get enough information.

I am planning to use neem oil and soap. Now I use the Bayer's insecticide/pesticide. This morning I do not see any whitefly again. Yesterday I read about whitefly in the "pest and diseases" forum to get more information. Lady Bug and Lacewing Larvae were mentioned. Last year I got a lot of lady bugs but this season I saw a couple of them and have gone. In the winter they stayed in the room. I am expecting they'll be back.

Your first ghost garden is very nice, I see a lot of pods there too. I can feel how would you felt when whitefly attacked your plants. Were they in the containers or in the ground? I also lost my first habanero plant when I did overwintered. Just she left a good memory, still I keep watching the pictures and video of my first chili plants. Those habanero plants were the one who motivated me to become a container gardener.

Thank you for sharing.

Caelian

Another one:

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Caelian

It looks like Ladybug but this color I have never seen before, I found it on my Aji Amarillo plant:

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Caelian

Here is a link to some of the good guys and what they eat.

Lots of places sell these critters Via the internet...
Tip Top is just close by where I live.

Here is a link that might be useful: Technical Bulletins

Smokemaster, thank you for the link. This little guy is so lovely I would like to keep it but the problem is I do not have aphids. I'll post to the "Pest and Disease" forum to get more information to keep it alive.

Caelian

Here is another one.

I found it on the soil, it was not flying just crawling around slowly.

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Caelian

Updates:
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I found it in the cabbage and tomatoes plants. Still I keep it in a small box.

caelian

Is that a moth?

If so, BT for all my caterpillar control.

Kevin

I do not know the id of this insect, looks like a kind of moth.

Caelian

Ants and possible aphids black united and attack my plants since I partially destroyed their nest the hedge. :-(

This fatty little guy sucks the pods too. They enjoy the curvy scorpion :

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Caelian