My Carolina reaper has been spread with all of this stuff – does anyone know what it is?? It has made the leaves almost a bit oily / greasy too.

by NoBit7736

31 Comments

  1. FredTDeadly

    Hose as many as you can off, let the plant dry then hit it with a pyrethrin spray, rinse and repeat for a few weeks to kill off the next few generations.

    The fruit will be fine and the plant will recover.

  2. Responsible_Bath_659

    You could look into beneficial nematodes. I’m getting them for my garden this year. You’ll want to get the ones specific to aphids.

  3. Royal-Bicycle-8147

    That’s a whole aphid family reunion!

  4. horrorbiz1988

    My Arch enemy 😭😭😭 they attacked all my young pepper varieties in the greenhouse today

  5. thenordicfrost

    Dude, don’t panic. Just take a spray bottle (or a hose) and spray them off outside. You’ll need to do this several times a day at first, and less overtime. Don’t use chems or anything. One thing that does work better, is organic soap (one or two drops, and one or two mint essential oil drops in water in a spray bottle). Don’t overreact with wtv, or the leaves will burn and fall off. The plant will recover either way, but why do it? Just plain water will work. It’s just time consuming. Happens to all of us. Hate the little shits, but it happens.

  6. Effective-Cream9825

    Not a Gardner rlly but when I was little my dad picked up tons of ladybugs from somewhere and said those are aphids, idk if this is true or like a myth.
    Edit: typo

  7. speadskater

    Aphids, looks to have been a problem for weeks.

  8. BenicioDelWhoro

    Dish soap and water will be enough, the soap suffocates them

  9. lukeiszzle

    The way I got rid of them was spray with a hose several times and then unleash a bunch of lady bugs

  10. bblackbelt

    I hope you succeed. I lost my battle with them

  11. Scrappyz_zg

    I don’t know if anyone said it, but if that’s in a pot, move them away from other plants. Also if that were my plant I’d toss it and take my losses. You are going to battle that to no end imo.

  12. DBCoop420

    Get Grower’s Ally Crop Defender 3 and you need DTE.
    Spray the plant daily and put the DTE on the soil. They have 3 life stages and you have to get them all.

  13. LADYBUGS! Some botanical gardens sell ladybugs. Unleash the container they LOVE eating aphids. Follow the instructions they come with. Typically you want to fridge them until you’re ready to release and let them out in batches during the evening.

  14. Shoddy_Stable6595

    Looks like aphid infestation. Often the case with overwintered plants. Try washing them off with a strong jet of water and removing the most affected leaves. Also keep those away from any other plants, especially seedlings ,because they love fresh leaves.

  15. Important_Shower_420

    Omg!!! That’s such a horrible infestation!! Are there ants? If there are you need to kill time first or any beneficial insect treatment you do the ants will kill. They’ll protect the aphid so they can keep getting that sweet sweet nectar.

    If there’s no ants or after you kill them you should get lacewing larvae and let them feast. Lacewings will stay as adults too and keep your garden pest free. Unlike ladybugs that’ll eat and run.

  16. Washedurhairlately

    Whatever you choose to do, don’t do it in direct sunlight. Things sprayed on peppers in direct sun that will fry the leaves. The point is to kill the aphids, and not by cooking the plant.

    1) Neem oil, oil based products are a no go in sunlight. If you choose to use this (honestly there’s better options) do it when the sun is going down.

    2) Some pyrethrin products use an petroleum distillate or aromatic hydrocarbon as a diluent. These are bad for leaves. There are water based pyrethrin products, but be aware that this is a non-selective killer, so if there are any ladybugs, lacewings, bees, or parasitic wasps in the vicinity, they’re going to be colateral damage. Reptiles and fish are also sensitive to these products.

    3) Sulfur containing insecticides or dusts.

    4) insecticidal soaps whether home brewed or store bought will absolutely harm the leaves in direct sun.

    What can you do in direct sunlight? Hose them off. This is a mature plant, so feel free to use enough pressure shy of tearing the leaves off and send them into orbit. You’ll need to be thorough and make sure you get water on the undersides of the leaves. The nice part about aphid hosing is that you can repeat as much as needed, taking care not to overwater the plant in the process. Now the bad news is that aphids do have legs and can walk right back up the plant, but that’s going to take a minute.

  17. anark_xxx

    Another option is to order a box of ladybirds that you can release on your plants and they will feast on the aphids.

  18. IntelligentCrab7058

    Aphids hate water spray. Spray soap on them then hose.

  19. NeverReddit777

    Praying mantis, ladybugs, and ants eat aphids

  20. DamonOfTheSpire

    Your Reaper is begging you for ladybugs.

  21. rhobhfan00

    Aphids. I’ve hosed them off and never had to (nor would) apply any sort of pesticide. They’re my favorite pest because I find them the easiest to deal with. You could release some ladybugs into your garden to help take care of them.

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