I'm not sure what knockouts are but it doesn't matter. Thrips (which is both singular and plural) is killed in the soil by beneficial nematodes.

As someone who loves sweet peppers that go beyond "not hot" as a main characteristic I'm shocked at how many sweet peppers out there have little-to-no flavor beyond a sugar content and a slight-to-none natural pepper flavor. What passes for a sweet/fruity sweet pepper is kind of pathetic. The Gypsy (hybird) and Lipstick peppers are my current commercially available favorites for taste when ripe. Aji Duce is a sweet/fruity lantern/hab-type with a nice flavor (thin walls, though). Various Marconi-type peppers have a good fruity-sweet flavor when very ripe, but they tend to take a long time to fully ripen and have thin walls. I'm so sick of bells that I can't really think of an awesome tasting bell aside from the newer Flavorbust (hybrid) which is pretty nice tasting (though I'd take Gypsy or Lipstick over it, easily). Bells on whole taste pretty "washed out" of many flavors to me aside from the sugar content. I'm going to be passing out seed for a 2.5-3.5" medium/thick walled sweet pepper (no heat) with a sweet and fruity (apple/citrus) flavor in a month or so. I'll make an announcement for anyone interested to send a SASE.

hi there... just want to know if anyone's experienced the same as i have... i have a number of chilli plants of different varieties growing under artificial light in my attic... they originally grew outside in pots, which explains as to where the critters came from.... the critters in question, are of two types (i think)... one is a small fly which whilst larval, grows beneath the surface of the soil, and comes to the surface as a pupae, which then changes into the flies in question? to me all things point toward fruit flies, however, appear smaller, and of a slightly different shape... the other, is of a tiny little white/yellow bug, which when sprayed, jumps quite high, like a flea? it generally lies just beneath the surface of the soil, until the soil's disturbed... i've sprayed pyrethrum on the flies and soil, and it seems to kill the critters fine, however in a couple of days, they're back... as my plants are quite young, there's no fruit as yet, however my concern lies in the next couple of months, and as to whether these pesky things are going to cause any problems for me besides the irritation? any diagnosis, prognosis or info regarding suspects, and remedies are greatly appreciated... kind thanks, james...

Warped, I'd start my chillies from seed in July or August. As our growing season is just not long enough for all the chillies to ripen. Hence, most of my chillies are now in pots so that I can overwinter them. Finally had an Eximium chillie from a seedling I received 2 seasons ago from PP. They are tiny chillies - maybe 1cm long and 2-3mm wide. Will try to take a picture when the next one is ripe. The plant is small and laden with these cute little fruit. But man! they are hot!!!!! Might try to save some seeds, but as you can imagine, these tiny fruit can't hold many seeds.