Ghost pepper bugs?

7 years ago

Hello, I live in upstate New York and have had an indoor ghost pepper plant for almost four years. It's done incredibly well indoors and has produced many peppers. About a month ago my husband decided it'd be smart to put it outside on one of the hotter days of the year and it came back in looking rather raggedy. I thought perhaps because it had been outside for the first time, it was a little windy but about two weeks ago I noticed tiny white 'fluffs' that are now moving and are some sort of bug. The plant is still looking very poorly, it hasn't flowered recently and the leaves originally turned yellow and dropped but are now just dropping.

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esox07 (4b) Wisconsin

7 years ago

First off...OUCH! That poor thing took a hit. BUt, it looks salvageable.

Letting it get direct light through the window is OK if that is what it was used to. In fact, pepper plants generally love direct sunlight as long as they are accustomed to it. I would snip off those few pepper pods. Let the plant put it's energy into regrowing the foliage instead of producing fruit right now. The pictures are not great, but not bad either of the pest infestation and it sure does look like you have an Aphid problem. Home Depot and most garden centers will carry both Insecticidal soap and Neem Oil. I have used Insecticidal soap in the past with great luck. Basically, all it is, is soap dissolved in water that is sprayed on the plant (pests). It causes their bodies to dry out and they die. You leave it on for for several hours or a day and rinse it off, or not. I quit trying to rinse it off as it is a pain and makes a mess unless you can take the plant outside and spray it down.

Then you will want to retreat the plant several times. You need to do this to kill all generations of the bugs. Otherwise, they will reappear a few days later. Just follow the instructions on the bottle and you will be fine. you can make your own by mixing soap and water and putting it in a spray bottle, but to start, I would just buy a bottle and get after them. But, make sure they are truly aphids before you do this.

Here is a photo of some Aphids on a Pepper plant of mine from a few years ago. They can be white, cream, pink, blue, red, etc.... They come in all the pastel colors. They really show their colors on my Rose Bushes outside.

Click on the photos to expand them

Here they are on my rose bush

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Comments (10)

esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
7 years ago
First thing. The plant has been sunburned. It was not used to the direct, unfiltered sunlight so it got "sunburned", much the same way that we do after being inside all winter. It is also probably suffering from the excessive heat that it was not accustomed to. Usually, affected leaves will turn a grayish color and it usually affects the older (lower) leaves the most. A lot of times they will wind up dying and falling off. This is fine, the plant will normally recover just fine as long as it wasn't totally fried.

The bugs, I am guessing are Aphids. They typically are not a terminal problem either except that your plant is already compromised and treating for the Aphids is going to be tough with the already suffering plant. The most common solution for Aphids is Insecticidal soap and Neem Oil, both of which are non-toxic solutions.

But, before you start treating for any pests, you need to get a more definitive pest ID and a better idea of what the plant condition currently is. If you could post a few photos of the plant itself showing the sun damage and then photos of the pests and their damage, it would help a lot.

Oh, and tell the hubby to keep his hands off the Ghost Pepper plant unless he wants you to spike his next Turkey Sandwich with Ghost Peppers.
kconnelly529
Original Author
7 years ago
Haha he has gotten a few earful a about touching it. The plant has always been very bushy with a lot of leaves but as in the pictures you can see the bare branches. The window it's in is the same window it's always been in (it's almost night here but it's usually brighter but not direct) I tried to get a better photo of the 'bugs' but basically they look sort of what lice looks like when it's enlarged.
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theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Agree that its current appearance is definitely the result of not being hardened off properly before being put outside. The tender leaves got hit with too much direct sun and wind. Spray the plant with insecticidal soap to get rid of the aphids. Then take a step back and let the plant regrow.

Rodney
kconnelly529
Original Author
7 years ago
Awesome, thanks so much. Husband is staying away and I'll be getting the spray for it. Again, thank you.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
7 years ago
Is that what the pods have always looked like? If so, not a Bhut Jolokia.

Josh
kconnelly529
Original Author
7 years ago
The two in those photos are much smaller then the ones we've gotten in the past but for that's what they've looked like.
northeast_chileman
7 years ago
The reason for questioning pepper variety is the Ghost Pepper, AKA Bhut Jolokia, doesn't look like your pod, Ghost Pepper Pix.
kconnelly529
Original Author
7 years ago
esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
7 years ago
Definitely not a ghost pepper. Possibly a Red Habanero.