Ticks, mealybugs or aphids on pepper seedlings are a gardener’s worst nightmare. Vegetables sown in winter usually grow in apartments on window sills, under which radiators provide a source of hot, dry air. This is the microclimate that pests of pepper seedlings love.
And if you consider that at home, in addition to bell peppers, half a vegetable garden is growing at the same time - tomatoes, eggplants, ornamental crops - then the parasites have room to roam. Without noticing pests in time, the gardener risks being left without seedlings at all. Ticks and insects migrate from crop to crop, destroying tender greens, sucking life-giving juices and gnawing leaves.
Where do insects come from at home? How to prevent an attack? What means do you use to get rid of aphids and other pests on pepper seedlings? We invite the reader to understand the problem together in order to prevent the appearance of all kinds of midges and flea beetles on the plants into which we put so much work and hope.
Pepper pests - slugs
pepper pests
A slug is a type of mollusk that is similar to a snail, but without a shell. He loves to eat not only the foliage, but also the fruits of this vegetable crop. Slug sizes vary from 2 to 5 cm. These pests leave behind holes in the leaves.
They feed mainly at night or in the evening, when the destructive heat for them subsides. To combat slugs, take the following series of measures:
1. Don’t neglect weeding the area.
2. Do not overwater the plant, as moist soil is ideal for slugs.
3. Be sure to sprinkle the soil with ash, a mixture of tobacco and lime, mustard or ground pepper; the slug does not like this.
4. Also, these pests do not like the smell of parsley, so you can plant parsley between the rows of peppers.
5. Use special preparations that are sold in any agricultural store, for example Slime Eater or Ferramol.
Causes and signs of pests
Insects threaten young seedlings and adult plantings grown in a greenhouse or open ground. The greatest danger to bell peppers is posed by larvae and adults (adults).
Some types of pests feed on the sap of the crop, while others eat leaves, flowers, fruits, stems, and roots. The main sign of damage to a vegetable is a sticky coating. This waste product appears on parts of the culture where organisms have parasitized.
Insects can appear on peppers for various reasons. The most common of them include:
- non-compliance with care rules;
- soil contamination by pathogenic microorganisms;
- poor climatic conditions;
- tight fit.
Attention! Bell pepper is a juicy plant whose juice contains a large amount of amino acids and carbohydrates.
Aphids - pests of pepper leaves
pepper pests
These little midges feed not only on the foliage, but on the plant as a whole. As a result, the plant can not only become infected, but also die.
If you notice a shine and a sticky film on the leaves, and the leaves begin to curl and dry out, then aphids have settled on your plant. This small pest loves high humidity and high air temperatures.
To combat aphids, use a number of measures:
1. Plant dill or coriander next to the pepper; these plants will attract ladybugs - the enemy of aphids.
2. As a folk remedy, spray the plant with an infusion of yarrow and laundry soap.
3. You can also use manganese solution.
4. Water with nettle infusion along with water (infuse for 24 hours).
5. Use special preparations, such as Karbofos or Agravertin, but before fruit set.
Description of the main pests
Medvedka
No insect evokes as many negative emotions as the mole cricket. This is a malicious pest of any vegetable seedlings, not disdaining onions, potatoes and root vegetables, very active from the beginning of spring until late autumn.
Adults are highly fertile. An insect nest can contain up to 600 eggs. The emerging larvae, along with adult pests, make horizontal tunnels in the soil in search of food. Plant rhizomes and plant residues preserved in the soil from last year are used as food.
Moving through underground passages, the insect gnaws the roots and causes the pepper seedlings to wither.
Mole crickets are attracted to moist and well-fertilized areas. After evening watering, they happily take over the garden beds, causing significant harm to gardeners.
They overwinter deep underground, but with the onset of spring warming they rise to the surface of the soil, where they can be destroyed by digging up the beds. Late autumn digging also helps. During this period, the young larvae do not yet have time to leave for the winter.
To destroy pests, the drug “Thunder” is used. You can also pour a solution of black pepper, water and vinegar into the holes. For ten liters of water, take 150 grams of pepper and three glasses of table vinegar.
Naked slugs
Naked slugs are quite common in greenhouses and greenhouses. This is an omnivorous pest that feeds not only on peppers. Slugs can be seen on peas, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers and other vegetable crops.
The insect looks like a snail without a shell. The elongated body is covered with sticky mucus, and the head has short, fleshy antennae. The insect has no limbs. It moves around the plant on its abdomen, sticking to the foliage with the help of mucus.
Slugs are especially active at night. They live in the soil at a depth not exceeding eight centimeters. Getting out at night to look at the seedlings, the pests eat the leaves, and later the young ovary.
Colonies increase significantly in warm and humid weather. In greenhouses, reproduction is provoked by frequent watering of the beds.
Insects settle in greenhouses around the perimeter of the beds, and in open ground they choose rocky, damp places. For preventative purposes, the beds are surrounded with quicklime scattered on the ground. Most insects cannot overcome this barrier, especially during rains, when lime interacts with water. Spraying the seedlings themselves with lime solution is also used.
Wireworms
Wireworms can cause damage in greenhouses and garden beds for three to four years.
These larvae of click beetles, covered with a hard chitinous covering, damage the roots and climb inside the stems, causing the seedlings to dry out.
The larvae of the first year of life cause little harm - they feed mainly on plant debris. And starting from the second year, these nimble worms take over the seedlings. They damage many vegetable crops, significantly reducing yields.
Insects settle at a depth of up to 15 centimeters. Therefore, autumn digging can destroy most of the larvae. In spring, traps are placed in the beds. After digging holes in the ground, vegetable peelings are placed there. After a few days, the traps are opened and their contents are destroyed along with the beetle larvae. Soil treatment with Bazudin is effective against insects. Its powder is placed in the soil around the perimeter of the bed.
Spider mite
During the dry period, spider mites appear on seedlings. Find these sucking insects
you can use the characteristic web entwining the leaves. After a short time, the foliage becomes brownish, dies and falls to the ground.
The greatest concentration of pests is observed in greenhouses and greenhouses. They live on cucumbers and peppers. In open ground, watermelons, melons, eggplants, and beans are affected.
After the leaves die, mites do not leave the plant, continuing to feed on the stems and ovaries. During the season, up to twenty generations of insects develop, capable of destroying most of the crop. Development from embryo to adult insect takes from one to four weeks.
The most effective against mites is treating the soil with bleach (two hundred grams of powder per bucket of water) before planting the seeds.
Before fruits appear, plants are sprayed with a solution of “BI-58” (20%).
Aphid
The most common pests are aphids. These tiny insects feed on the entire plant, damaging leaves, stems, buds and ovaries.
Insects are distinguished by their high fertility - more than twenty generations of aphids appear and fully develop per year.
Insects are most active in hot and humid summers. The process of aphid reproduction is accelerated by temperatures above +25 degrees and air humidity of 85%.
To destroy pests, decoctions of wormwood or yarrow mixed with liquid soap are used. To prepare the product, a kilogram of grass is brewed in ten liters of water and infused for two days. 20 grams of soap are added to the strained broth. Using ladybugs is effective. These predators are released into greenhouses, where they quickly reduce the number of aphids.
Whitefly
Whitefly larvae feed on many cultivated plants, including pepper seedlings.
Small butterflies lay eggs on the reverse side of the leaf, covering them with a protective coating.
The fertility of adults reaches 500 eggs per season. The larva very quickly goes through all stages of maturation. In favorable weather, up to 15 generations of these pests can develop. Adult insects and larvae suck the juice from the leaves, stems and ovaries, sometimes covering the entire plant.
Insects are attracted to sooty fungus . It can be seen by the black coating on the leaves and stems. Infected seedlings are stunted in growth and often die.
Phosbecid is considered the most effective against whiteflies. The beds are treated with a solution of the drug (10%) twice a season.
Thrips
Thrips are another dangerous pest of seedlings. These are small insects with an elongated body and wings that suck sap from young plants. The abdomen of thrips has a characteristic striped color.
In the middle zone there are 230 species of these insects. Most of them spend their lives on plant inflorescences, feeding on nectar and sucking juice from ovaries and developing fruits. They lead a hidden lifestyle. Therefore, the infection may not be noticed immediately. Young larvae live in groups. They mature in about a month. Several generations of pests develop each year.
The first signs of infection are the appearance of lightened spots on the stems and leaves.
This is how insect bites appear. Over time, the spots merge, forming light areas. In this place the tissues die. Holes form in the leaves. The stems become bent, and the ovary and fruits take on an ugly shape.
Insects are very resistant to all means of control. To destroy a large colony of pests, at least two applications per season are often required. Several drugs are used. Seedlings can be treated with Karbofos, Karate, Fitoverm, Actellik and other preparations.
Among folk remedies, various decoctions and infusions of plants are effective and safe for humans. For example, celandine (100 g per liter of water), tobacco (80 g), garlic (a teaspoon of crushed cloves per glass of water) or chamomile (100 g of flowers). Liquid soap is added to the finished infusion - up to 40 grams per ten liters of water.
If you correctly use the biological method of protecting plants from pests, you can grow ecologically clean and healthy vegetables and fruits. If you are the owner of a garden, then you cannot do without a sprayer. We recommend turning your attention to Solo brand sprayers. Read more about them here.
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Insect pest whitefly
A very dangerous and common pest that resembles aphids in appearance. Whiteflies can be visually confused with moths. The pest is mainly located on the inside of the leaf and lays eggs there.
These insects live in flocks. They disrupt the pepper's metabolism and draw juice out of it. They are also carriers of dangerous infectious diseases.
To fight use:
1. The method of regular rinsing with water, if there are few insects, or wiping the leaves with a soap solution.
2. Treat the culture with Intravir.
3. You can make traps with adhesive composition.
4. Treat with karbofos.
Methods for exterminating aphids
Attracting insects that eat aphids to your summer cottage is an excellent solution to the problem. Ladybugs, lacewings and hoverflies cope well with this task. To do this, you need to plant dill, cumin and fennel on nearby ridges.
Another way is to spray the area. Red pepper can be treated against pests in the garden with a solution of tomato tops and water. One kilogram of tops is poured with a liter of water and brought to a boil. After cooling, you can start working.
The most drastic solution is to purchase Fitoverm, Keltan and Agravertin.
The Colorado potato beetle is a voracious pest of peppers.
A well-known and widespread pest, both the adult beetle and its voracious larva. They eat everything - leaves, stems, and fruits. Can lead to the death of the plant.
Methods to combat them:
1. By hand picking.
2. Treating pepper with celandine infusion helps a lot.
3. Beetles do not like the smell of beans and garlic, so you can plant these plants next to the pepper.
4. Use special chemicals.
5. Hill up peppers in mid-summer.
Spider mite
It is difficult to notice a small bug; its size is no more than 0.5-1 cm, in addition, it camouflages itself under foliage.
It attaches to the inside of the leaf and sucks out the juices, while releasing a dangerous liquid, as a result of which the plant dies. It can enter the plant through the air or with soil.
Methods to combat this pest:
1. Treat the soil with lime mortar.
2. Watering the plant with warm water with laundry soap and kerosene.
3. Use chemicals, for example, Inta-Vir, Fitoverm and Iscarbio.
Ants
We are used to admiring these highly organized creatures exactly until the moment they begin to harm our crops and supplies. Garden ants are attracted to the secretions of aphids and the pepper plantings themselves are interesting to them. Ants become “shepherds,” guarding aphids on plants and feasting on their juice. Accordingly, it is impossible to defeat aphids without eliminating a colony of thousands of ants.
Ants and aphids do not like to camouflage themselves - plant stems clinging to them immediately become noticeable. In general, the harm caused by ants comes down to the breeding and “exploitation” of aphids, although they themselves regularly spoil plantings, destroy beds and flower beds and do not disdain plant sap. If ants come to the site, get ready for a protracted war.
Measures to combat ants:
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Pepper pests - thrips
Insects of a dark color with a striped abdomen, 0.5-1.5 mm in size. They are difficult to see and can be confused with seeds. These insects feed on juice from fruit ovaries. They eat the entire plant and carry dangerous diseases.
If you notice light spots on the leaves, which then merge with each other and the leaf turns completely white, then your vegetable crop is infected with these pests. There are several methods to combat them:
1. Spray the plant with an infusion of onion, garlic and water.
2. You can make traps with a yellow adhesive base.
3. Spray with marigold infusion (crush the dry plant and add warm water, leave for 2 days).
4. Use special products, such as Fitoverma or Akarina.
Let's recognize the enemy by sight
The sooner you detect uninvited guests, the easier it is to deal with them.
Signs of the presence of parasites:
- tubercles on leaf blades;
- black dots;
- dandruff-like dust;
- spots - yellow, brown, white streaks, holes;
- a shiny coating that feels sticky to the touch;
- pimpled surface of leaves or plaques on the trunk.
And if holes are noticed on the sheets, deformation (the plates curl), they immediately begin to fight for the seedlings. Tiny insects, invisible to the naked eye during a cursory examination, quickly eat up tender young leaves, gnaw buds and petioles, leaving no chance to save the crops.
Aphid
Of the thousands of species, sweet peppers are threatened by three representatives of sap-sucking insects. The average gardener does not need to know the species and subspecies. It is more important to remember that aphids:
- capable of completely destroying young growth;
- reproduces so rapidly that in a season one female is the source of more than one thousand young individuals, which only need two weeks to reach maturity;
- by piercing leaf tissue, it introduces dangerous infections with saliva - the seedlings will also have to be saved from viral diseases;
- the accumulation of sweet secretion secreted by insects not only blocks the leaf’s breathing: the sticky place is a favorable environment for the development of sooty fungus.
Treatment of a neglected plant, weakened by the triple attack of aphids, is often useless. While the gardener does not notice the threat, the colony takes over bush after bush, spreading secondary infections.
Medvedka
pepper pests
A dangerous pest that feeds on the root system of a plant. Reaches 8 cm in length, has a shell and wings. Can both fly and swim.
Do not use to combat:
1. Weed the soil thoroughly.
2. Loosen the soil more often.
3. Pour hot pepper infusion or soapy water into the holes.
4. Use special chemicals, such as Medvetox, Bankol.
The most popular methods of protecting pepper seedlings
It is very important to know what treatment to choose in the event of an attack by a particular pest. Often, how quickly the fight against insects begins determines how effective it will be. Sometimes, having lost only a few days, the gardener realizes that time has been lost and the harvest cannot be saved.
How to remove aphids from pepper seedlings
Aphids prefer to feed on young shoots and leaves, which have low resistance to aggressive drugs. Therefore, experienced summer residents prefer to use traditional methods of pest control.
For example, a soap solution gives excellent results. 80 grams of laundry soap are diluted in 10 liters of warm water. The resulting preparation is sprayed onto peppers. When the soap dries, it forms a film that protects the leaves from aphids. And after the first good rain, the film will be washed off and will not cause unnecessary trouble in the future.
How to deal with spider mites
Another case where soapy water can be a reliable ally. But sometimes spraying plants with a solution is not enough - in cases where the infection has gone too far. Therefore, you can use soap foam - it is applied to the leaves in a thick layer and destroys the mite.
Remember! Spider mites often appear where there is low humidity. By spraying seedlings or plants with a spray bottle, you can reduce the risk of their occurrence.
Only in the most advanced cases should you resort to the help of special insecticides, especially if the ovary has already appeared, which will eventually turn into fruit.
Whitefly causes a lot of trouble
How to get rid of greenhouse whitefly
But this is a more serious enemy, so you will have to use “heavy artillery” to process it. Some summer residents use a solution of ammonia - 50 ml per 10 liters of water.
If ammonia is not available in sufficient quantities, then you can use ash-tobacco infusion. For 5 liters of warm water, take a glass of ash and 20 grams of tobacco or shag. After mixing them, you need to let the solution brew - preferably for at least a day. After this, they treat the affected bushes, as well as those nearby.
Scoops
These small moths are camouflaged and difficult to spot, and they are active mainly at night. If you notice nibbled edges on a leaf, then these are cutworms.
To combat them, the following measures are taken:
1. Weeding the soil.
2. Manually collect caterpillars.
3. Make traps from plastic bottles, pouring any juice or jam into them.
4. Use special chemicals, for example, Volaton or Arrivo.
Pepper: pests, prevention and control. Valuable advice
To protect your plant from insect pests and reap a good harvest, we recommend following a number of measures:
1. Dig up the soil in a timely manner and apply mineral and organic fertilizers.
2. Peppers should be planted in a windless and bright area.
3. It is better to plant peppers in the place where onions and legumes previously grew.
4. Water with settled water once a week.
5. For prevention, spray the bushes with a soap solution.
6. Regularly observe and inspect plants for the presence of pests and diseases.
Seed treatment before sowing seedlings
Before sowing for seedlings, the seeds must be treated. To do this, soak them for 20 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate. Then rinse and dry. This treatment will reduce the risk of developing diseases and protect against pests.
To prevent the tobacco mosaic virus, if it has already manifested itself in your area, soak them for 10 minutes in a 2% solution of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).
Soaking the seeds in a solution of aloe juice with water (1:1) before sowing will help prevent stem and root rot (blackleg) on seedlings.
To prevent the seedlings from rotting away, you need to pre-sow the soil with a dark solution of potassium permanganate and Fitosporin-M.
