Have been battling aphids non stop for a few weeks. I do my best to blast some off with water, get the ones I see by hand, and spray the plant down with neem oil after it’s dried. They have barely slowed down and all the peppers seem to be dying around the stems and dropping. It is my first time growing cayenne pepper so please give any suggestions.
by jcwc69
5 Comments
Spray bottle with 50/50 soap
Insecticidal soap will take care of them. Plant will be fine
Harvest the red ones at least. I might nip all of them and let the plant focus on recovery more. Anything squishy is dead and can be removed. Make sure it’s watered right and some kind curative treatment for the aphids and it’ll bounce back.
First make sure there aren’t other plants near it where the aphids might be coming from.
Early in the morning, in the shade, spray it down with soap, cover all the leaves, making sure to focus on the bottom of the leaves and spaces where aphids might be hiding. Use your fingers to wipe off any of the bugs that you can see. Let it be on there for like 15 minutes, which will be about as long as it takes to wipe it down. Then use water to spray it clean, taking just as much care to wash off the soap that you used to put it on. Wait a couple of days, see if that worked, if not, do the whole thing again.
Then, give it a good trim. Cut off the bad branches and any spots affected by aphid damage and give it some liquid fertilizer.
Your plant will be fine.
Yea need actual chemical help killing the aphids and keeping them away. Neem oil also works.
Kill the aphids, then let the plant recover. Pick all peppers, up size the pot, fertilize, and give it time. Might be done for the season, cayenne takes a long time to grow and ripen, not sure how long season you got left.
Can always trim it and repot it for winter, and try again next year