When overwintering my plants last year I ordered some lady bugs from the internet. When the ladybugs arrived I placed my plants in a large cardboard box with a piece of screening material on top. I released the ladybugs into the box with the plants I was going to overwinter and taped down the screen to the top with some duct tape. Left the plants and ladybugs into the box for about a week and then removed the plants and brought them inside (released the ladybugs outside). I had zero problems with aphids or spider mites last year. First time I overwintered without having to battle aphids or spider mites.
This year I brought my plants into the garage to see if they would overwinter out there. The garage is not heated but is attached to my house. The plants havenâÂÂt been doing too well; I think it may be getting too cold out there for them. I just realized that a few of the plants have lots of aphids. I am going to order more ladybugs and try this again real soon. After the ladybug treatment I will take them inside as I donâÂÂt think they will survive the NY winter in an unheated garage.

Yeah, When I have to use insecticidal soap I spray it on, leave it for 15 minutes - an hour, then spray the plants off. They seem much happier that way, and it still takes care of the aphids. Repeat every 2-3 days until you're sure they are gone.

t-bones thank you for sharing.

Caelian

t-bones, great idea. I literally battled aphids all winter last year. I tried everything, insecticidal soap, neem oil, garlic oil, lemon oil, you name it. I did more damage to my plants than the aphids. I tried lady bugs in the greenhouse but they didn't stay, plus, many died, not sure why, I waited over a week after neem applications. It was awful. I am not overwintering this year. I grow about 2500 pepper plants a year to sell, I only had aphids because I brought plants in to overwinter. I refuse to go through that again. But now I have what sounds to be a good technique with the lady bugs. Thanks t-bones. (I did tell my husband that I plan to use our sunroom as the greenhouse for Jan and feb when it's coldest, I told him if I get aphids again, I will be releasing a ton of lady bugs into the house. ;-))
Pam

My pyrethrin spray is 90% canola oil. I can't think imagine that leaving that on my peppers is great, but it is vegetable-based. I just can't think of how to wash it off. My wife would kill me if I put them in the shower and hooking up the hose in the back yard and spraying them when it is 28 degrees out doesn't sound like a good idea either.

First time I dealt with Aphids on pepper plants, I bought some insecticidal soap and sprayed it once a day for three days. Then I took it to the shower and rinsed it off quick after about an hour each time. It worked. No more aphids that season. The next year I got the little bastards, I couldn't find the soap, so I made my own with home made hand soap (My wife makes it the old fashioned way with lye and oil). I just heated up some water and soaked a chunk of soap in it. I then put the soapy water in a spray bottle and went at it. I didn't bother to rinse the plant after the three days (once Per day) of treatments. It did the trick. Plants didn't miss a beat, even without rinsing them each time. Last year, same thing, home made insecticidal soap (I am told any soap will work, including dish soap). Same results. No rinsing, Dead aphids, no return infestations and no harm to the plant.
Just today, I sprayed my Mom's Twilight pepper with some home made insecticidal soap. The little bastards were so thick that they were clearly doing damage. It looked like a fungus all over the plant except it moved. hahaha. I told her to do the spraying once a day for three days. I am sure it will work once again and I am sure the plant will be fine. Even with the damage from the aphids.
Bruce

Tried tested and true. Neem oil or Azamax. Neem oil is considered organic though and being oil it stays on the leaves and you honestly don't need much. The aphids die within a day or two and truthfully it has worked every time for HUGE infestations that would kill my whole crop. I try to avoid using it with all other means first, but sometimes you have no choice. Azamax is expensive though, just a heads up...

well, you guys are lucky. I did neem oil most of the season, no luck. Oh, they'd seem to disappear for a day or two, but within a week they'd be back. I started out with insecticidal soap, on a every-other-day basis, still aphids. One time I took all my plants that were infested, dipped them upside down in a neem oil solution and swished them around. within a week, aphids. I forgot who it was but someone here commented if you had aphids, the best thing to do was dump all the plants and start over. I agree. I think if I have another winter like last winter I will be done selling pepper plants. (I was to the point last year of burning down my greenhouse and telling my partner, oops, it burned down, sorry, you'll be selling your sweets alone). Interesting, my partner swears by neem, she uses it if she has an infestation and it's over. Not me.
Pam

I do not know it is possible to get rid of aphids completely but control. As long as the plants are healthy and strong aphids cannot damage much to the plants. Always I found few of them on my plants. So I do regular check for aphids and spray insecticide soap and rinse whenever I found them.

Caelian