Battling these buggers

[Mike B.]

I'm growing some ghost pepper plants and these tiny bugs are destroying my plants. I've tried Neem oil and Sevin dust, they both help temporarily. I hope someone can shed light as to what these bugs are and best way to get rid of them. Thank you for your input

 

[Chuck]

I'm growing some ghost pepper plants and these tiny bugs are destroying my plants. I've tried Neem oil and Sevin dust, they both help temporarily. I hope someone can shed light as to what these bugs are and best way to get rid of them. Thank you for your input

After looking under magnification, it appears that you have an unusual but not unheard of problem. IMO you have thrips insects and aphids. Usually one has one or the other but not both. What I would do is spray with Safers Soap. It is very effective against both insects. Also, I believe you will find a product such as Captain Jacks Dead Bug Killer to be MUCH more effective against chewing insects than Sevin and is also much safer. Neem, once the bottle is opened has a limited shelf life and is better at controlling fungi and insect eggs than it is at anything else.

 

[Mike B.]

After looking under magnification, it appears that you have an unusual but not unheard of problem. IMO you have thrips insects and aphids. Usually one has one or the other but not both. What I would do is spray with Safers Soap. It is very effective against both insects. Also, I believe you will find a product such as Captain Jacks Dead Bug Killer to be MUCH more effective against chewing insects than Sevin and is also much safer. Neem, once the bottle is opened has a limited shelf life and is better at controlling fungi and insect eggs than it is at anything else.

Chuck, I didn't know about the Neem oil shelf life. I'll definitely look into getting some Capt Jacks, thanks for the tip

 

[cpp gardener]

The new formulation of Sevin is much safer than the original and can be used on vegetables.

 

[DiggersJo]

I would try washing them off with a water spay first off. If you find any ladybugs around put them on the pepper plants, even better their grubs.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I would try washing them off with a water spay first off. If you find any ladybugs around put them on the pepper plants, even better their grubs.

I'm all for this, but any sort of insect attack I usually take a shaving brush and a good lather to them first. The brush is soft enough it won't damage the plants, but it will damage small and delicate insects, the lather is suffocating and also helps wash them and the gunk they make off. Soap and water, it's a bit old fashioned, but it works well at getting rid of nasties of all sorts.

 

[Mike B.]

The new formulation of Sevin is much safer than the original and can be used on vegetables.

Would that be a liquid or dust?

 

[cpp gardener]

Liquid. I think the dust is still carbaryl.