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| This was the first year I grew peppers or anything else. It went well enough that I decided to try to overwinter a few plants in my office. I didn't notice an aphid problem when the plants were outdoors, maybe because predators were keeping them in check. But I brought the plants in a few weeks ago, and today I noticed that they're covered with aphids.
I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it. I know soapy water is a traditional anti-aphid spray, but I also read in the archives here that it needs to be rinsed off after a fairly short time. I'm not really in a position to do that kind of thing in my office. Does anyone have any suggestions that are more feasible in an indoor environment? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Squish 'em. If needed, protect our fingers with a facial tissue. |
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- Posted by smokemaster_2007 (My Page) on Wed, Nov 24, 10 at 0:41
| I like Aphid wasps but they are too expensive for only a couple plants. Soap,neem etc. only slows them down for me-too much work. A cheep way to get the wasps is to buy a nursery plant with aphid mummies on it and put it with your plants. One of the many suppliers. http://www.tiptopbio.com/tech_bulletins.html The wasps A lot of nurseries use bennificial bugs to control the bad guys.You just need to find out what to look for. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Aphid wasps
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- Posted by matt_in_va (My Page) on Wed, Nov 24, 10 at 1:02
| OK, so a question about the aphid wasps: when they hatch, am I going to have clouds of tiny wasps buzzing around my office until they run out of food and starve? |
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- Posted by fiedlermeister 04/05 (My Page) on Wed, Nov 24, 10 at 6:58
| I have had good results with lady bugs. March Biological is a good source ( bag of 1500 for $6.50). I usually have too many plants to deal with them manually. The beetles don't wander for me but tend to stay where the food is.
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- Posted by greenman28 Nor Cal 7/8 (My Page) on Wed, Nov 24, 10 at 12:33
| Ladybugs I use, as well. Just remember to lightly mist the plants so the ladybugs/larvae have moisture. Josh |
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- Posted by wordwiz (wordwiz@fuse.net) on Fri, Nov 26, 10 at 22:27
| I don't know who said you have to wash the soap off, but they were wrong. Mix up a solution of Neem Oil/Safer Soap, spray the entire plant (the top and bottom of leaves) for a couple of days,, then check back in a few more and repeat and the aphids will be history. A couple years ago, I had a horrible infestation on several hundred plants - it took about a week to eradicate every last one. I used a pump-up type sprayer so I had a bit of pressure behind the mist. Mike |
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- Posted by capt_saicin 10/S. Fla. (My Page) on Sat, Nov 27, 10 at 7:35
| As I understand it, the I.S. method kills by suffocation and thus has no residual effect once dry. Some may wish to wash it off to reduce build-up from multiple applications once the infestation is eliminated. |
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- Posted by matt_in_va (My Page) on Mon, Nov 29, 10 at 11:10
| Thanks for the feedback. I'll go get some Neem Oil or the like and give it a whirl. I'm tempted to try some kind of predator, but I'm a little afraid I'll end up turning my office into the site of some kind of biblical insect plague. :-) |
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- Posted by chilemilio 10 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 29, 10 at 11:33
| Good luck. I've had good results with lady bugs, but the best i've found is to keep a daily eye and cut out any infested branches... First time I did it, I was worried I'd given them too severe of a trim, but I think they grew back stronger. I think excessive amounts of aphids just leave the plant too weak to recover easily with the damaged branches still on. |
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- Posted by kentishman 7 SC (My Page) on Mon, Nov 29, 10 at 13:14
| I notice that nobody suggests using chemicals such as Diazinon. Is this because everyone is environmentally friendly or won't apply chemicals to plants they're going to eat? This is my first year overwintering a couple of plants. I was expecting aphids to appear based on all the postings here, and, sure enough, I noticed the first ones yesterday on a jalapeno. Although I don't like using chemicals on anything, I'm figuring that it will be about six months before I'll have any jalapenos to eat (if all goes well), so all traces of active Diazinon will be long gone. So, why do all of you choose not to use chemicals? I don't like the idea of releasing a lot of lady bugs that will starve to death in my basement once they've eaten the few aphids I've got. I'd welcome your reasons for not using chemicals. Thanks, Tom |
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- Posted by wordwiz (wordwiz@fuse.net) on Wed, Dec 1, 10 at 14:37
| Tom, I'm not opposed to using chemicals but I have found Safer Soap and Neem Oil to be very effective and inexpensive. Mike |
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- Posted by kentishman 7 SC (My Page) on Fri, Dec 3, 10 at 11:10
| Thanks Mike. I have Safer Soap, so I'll use it. Tom |
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