After some good germination rates on my fist batch of peppers this year the first issue I ran into was an aphid infestation in my seedling light box. It’s quite common to get aphids when growing indoors so it wasn’t the greatest surprise when i noticed the little green critters munching their way into my seedlings.
It’s not just my chillies that have been infected. Various plants we’ve got around the house, including our great lemon tree, have been suffering with aphids so i’ve been very busy taking them all outside every other day for a good spraying.
As mentioned before my only real option was to spray and manually remove (and squash) the aphids. Because they lay their eggs you need to take a consistent approach and spray every few days and check manually daily if possible. I’m pleased to say that with the help of plenty of Bayer Bug Killer, and my thumb and forefinger I think I am finally on top of the infestation.
I prefer to use organic sprays where possible however I have found that this Bayer spray is the only thing to have shifted my aphid problem.
Hi, I visited the site today to see if there was any advice on Aphids so was interested to read this. I too have had had to battle the little critters on both the two chillies I managed to keep going through the winter (Hot Thai and Jalapeno) and my seedlings. I’ve got the Bayer spray as well but as the directions advise only using a few times a year I’m saving it as a last resort. I’ve been manually removing with a small paintbrush and squashing or running the plants under a lukewarm tap and I even sponged the leaves down with the pots in the sink one day ! I also keep collecting ladybirds from the garden and letting them do the work. Some are more keen (or hungry) than others. I’ve got some open flowers on the Jalapeno and have been doing a bit of self-pollenating.
Going to have a look at the Potter’s Plants website now.
Cheers
Rich