Managing Aphids In The Garden - Pepper Geek

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In this video, we talk about aphids. Aphids are a dreaded garden pest that commonly attack pepper plants. Learn about how to identify aphids, and how to control them in the garden!

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Get beneficial insects:

Insecticidal soap (affiliate link):

Neem oil (affiliate link):

0:00 Identifying aphids
2:00 Beneficial insects
3:57 Manual removal
4:10 Insecticides

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Thanks for watching Pepper Geek!
#peppers #gardening #spicy

[JRileyStewart]

Here's another treatment I've had great success with. Aphids are very vulnerable to high sugar solutions (this is why we don't see them in high BRIX plants). Sugars build up in aphid bodies and kill them in minutes-hours. 1 Tbsp of molasses or corn syrup per gallon of water is a good starting point. As the sugar solution dries, the sugars further concentrate and quickly become lethal to aphids. Plus, plants can uptake the sugars as a nutrient itself (especially molasses) and therefore get a double bang for the buck. About 10% of the aphids escape, so 2 or 3 treatments a day apart may be necessary. But I'd just leave them for the predatory insects to gobble up and monitor for heavy infestations later, and retreat if needed.

[dmick]

in the past I have tried a peppermint oil pesticide and It worked pretty well, left minimal damage to my plants, and also smelled wonderful.

[butterfrogfarms]

We've got three 4'x8' raised beds with 10 peppers in each. We sow a ring of alyssum on the perimeter of each bed as well as alternating marigolds and dianthus down the center. We also have two 4'x4' plots of dense orchids near the pepper beds. Since the orchids stalks grow tall it is very easy to pick ladybug larvae off of them in the mornings and place them directly on any pepper plants that need a few extra aphid-eaters.

[elleh]

Thank you for this EXCELLENT video!!! Love to see people promoting beneficials, explain why to not introduce non native ladybugs and saying it's ok not to freak out because you find a couple aphids. Very well done and appreciated.

[barendbats]

A picture of my mother-in-law scared off all the aphids in my garden. Killed the neighbors cherry tree as well. I think i'll rent her out as pest control. Silver lining 😂

[TheJackeeeo]

Insecticidal soap for the win. I've also had success putting some Dr. Broners soap in a jar with water, then dipping a q-tip in the soapy water to specifically target the aphids by swabbing them. No trouble with disease developing from a little soap on the plant.

[brianseybert]

Had an explosion of aphids in my grow room in late March. We had some temps in the 80's so I started to harden off some peppers. After about 3 days had to bring the peppers in because it got cold again. About a week later I started noticing some aphids, really did not think much about it, never had an aphid problem before. Long story short, I was overrun with aphids. Made the worse choice possible, used a dish wash solution. Lost a lot of everything. Many of the plants that survived, lost most of their leaves when hardening them off. Learned a valuable lesson. If they show up next spring I will purchase some lady bugs for inside.
Thanks for the tip on lacewing eggs. Would love to be able to buy native live ladybug larva.
Stay Well!!!

[joannagel]

Great suggestions for balancing the health of our garden & aphids

[SAVAGE]

Perfect timing for this … I have aphids on my plants.

[Not_So_Weird_in_Austin]

For the first time ever i got Aphids on my indoor hydroponics and will use Insect soap. Thanks for lace wing egg tip. I use castle soap.

[pw]

Been squishing a few this year and also started using one of those silicone pastry brushes from the kitchen to..er..brush them off the leaves and stems. Has worked really well. I should imagine any little paintbrush or similar would be ok, too.

[shellyhughes]

I was battling aphids inside on my hydroponic plants - I lost a lot of great pepper plants 😢. They got on my seedlings before they were ready to go outside. Once I got my plants outside I kept hosing them off my plants daily. I also planted tons of flowers (mostly marigolds and alyssum) which seem to be attracting lady bugs and hover flies. The aphid population has been greatly decreasing and it’s been easier to keep manually removing them.

[Pixieworksstudio]

You are a star!! I get sick and tired everyday of sounding like a stuck record on social media constantly telling people never to use dish soap! Thank you! Thank you!

[mikek]

Aphids are usually seen in my garden early on in the spring before the flowers get going and the beneficial insects start showing up. My routine is to spray with a neem oil and castile soap solution to combat the early spring wave until the garden gets in full swing. Neem oil and castile soap works great for me and my plants are better for it. If I were to wait for the beneficial insects to show up and help I'd have no plants for the growing season.

I also think you should be careful recommending people to just wait for beneficial insects to show up because aphids also carry disease. Allowing aphids to hang around is a disaster waiting to happen. Yes, beneficial insects are the best way, but aphids should never be left untreated when first seen. If people don't get a handle on them early it's almost guaranteed that the plants will contract some type of disease.

[MK-cwgw]

Hey there!ove your channel and appreciate the info as a fellow pepper geek!

[palmakertesz-xxbd]

As i noticed blooming oregano plant also attracts hoverflies and parasitoid wasps. It is win-win.
I collect it for herb/tea and protects against aphids. It is easy to grow too. I recommend it planting in pot. Grows big really fast and can be uncontrollable in garden :)

[ldzmn]

My plants used to suffer every year with aphids! However, since I decided to let nettles grow in a segregated part of my garden near my polytunnel I have seen a HUGE reduction of aphids on my plants each YEAR since. No infestations! They love the tender new leaves of nettles! Seems they much prefer it to my chilli leaves. IF I have any, they are extremely few so I just squash them

[derekjf]

Thanks for the video as always! I just saw my first aphid of the year last night. Havent had to bust out the neem oil yet 🤞

[abc_cba]

Please, do a video on fungal diseases and mites too.
It's wrecking havoc all over my city.

[Freakyjolyne]

What I do is make a cinnamon water solution doubles as a fertiliser aswell