[Alvin]

Serious question: Are your pepper plants eaten by insects?

Reason is had great Sweet Pepper Plants for years until STINK BUG invasion with the larve and pubescent bright red body w black legs devouring all of the peppers. Used many different Organic and Commercial treatments, powders, Soaps, Sprays and they won the war...bastards still show up to lay eggs at old former plant locations.

Resisted severe chemical treatments as much as possible due it being a food source.

How about your Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Chili's - any bug or parasite issues?

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by 4dblnkldude

Theres a couple dozen varieties of jalapenos. I usually buy the jumbo ones to stuff, which aren't as hot as the regulars. Its relay a crapshoot sometimes with them, there are a couple that have no heat at all, just as mild as a bell. If your that crazy about them get the seed stable over years just as Cerebus does. Go to www.chiliplants.com and check them out. You want any jalap to be mild? Eat one ghost, naga, or Trinidad scorpion and youll be poppin jalaps like candy the following week.

Super, thanks.

Horseradish is also my home-grow, make, & eats.

[GRX]

Jalapenos are funny. I have picked some off the same plant at the same time with different heat levels. Does not seem to correspond to ripeness either. Jalapenos range from very mild, as the Senorita variety, to very hot as the Biker Billy.

[pontibeast]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Serious question: Are your pepper plants eaten by insects?

Reason is had great Sweet Pepper Plants for years until STINK BUG invasion with the larve and pubescent bright red body w black legs devouring all of the peppers. Used many different Organic and Commercial treatments, powders, Soaps, Sprays and they won the war...bastards still show up to lay eggs at old former plant locations.

Resisted severe chemical treatments as much as possible due it being a food source.

How about your Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Chili's - any bug or parasite issues?

I try like heck to avoid using any insecticides that aren't natural but if I am having a real bad time in a certain area I have found Seven Dust to work rather well and you can use up to a week before harvesting and it's even shorter for some plants. I haven't had any problems in the small areas and amounts I have used and it works really well. I try to make sure I get good clean stock when I shop and any organic soil I use I add some type of organic bug juice from our nursery to help in soil nesting insect control. One thing I have learned in the relatively short time I have been gardening(8 years) is that there will almost always be some loss and I try to spread my plants out to four different gardens so if one is hit hard the others will give me the tomatoes, beans, peppers and potatoes my family loves and cans. Good luck with the bugs, they can drive you nuts.

[Formulabruce]

I will try a few Ghost peppers this year along with traditional.., but the dirt is still a couple feet away in most areas...

[pontiacpetey]

Alvin, only the peppers are hot. bugs eat the plants just like any other. I have my "mother plant" inside for the second year and I had major aphid problems. im waiting for spring to put it out, the rain helps keep them under control as well as the ladybugs n wasps.

Started about 40 Carolina reaper plants this year too, any PY members local are welcome to a plant or two for free.

[pontiacpetey]

Half inch stud--- yes I have horseradish too! I saved the tops from fresh horseradish that I bought and put them in water and in a few weeks I had new sprouts and roots growing. I planted them 2 years ago and this year i finally dug some up I loved it. The new shoots of horseradish are great on salads n stuff, kind of a peppery green.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by pontiacpetey

Alvin, only the peppers are hot. bugs eat the plants just like any other. I have my "mother plant" inside for the second year and I had major aphid problems. im waiting for spring to put it out, the rain helps keep them under control as well as the ladybugs n wasps.

Started about 40 Carolina reaper plants this year too, any PY members local are welcome to a plant or two for free.

Yessir, information I gathered locally from our horticulture shop about Stinkbugs is this:
they are in what is known as the "piercing class" because they use the sharp edges of their adult legs to pierce the peppers and deposit their egg larve which then feeds on the pepper "fruit" plant...thousands of them devastated our excellent plants...and they are still showing up to this very day even though no peppers etc. have been provided for them to feed on.

Found a few of them in our wild cactus "alligator plants" yesterday

having been born and lived 1st 6yrs of my life in Albuquerque, you could say I've experienced a hot pepper or two.
As an adult traveling in and around same area - Seems like green Chili's are used in most all New Mexico dishes - including breakfast. You have to specifically place orders excluding them there if you don't want Chili's.

As a kid my mom and our neighbors raised the long red & green peppers and would put them on the outside cloths lines to dry them out in the sun. Some of those would be ground up for use in shaker topings like often seen on Pizzas' etc.

Thxs for reminding me of the Great pepper memories including fried green tomatoes and home-made flour & corn tortilla's slathered with butter is what we kids had during summers playing Cowboys & Indians outdoors.

[GRX]

Neem oil. Have you tried it? All natural and has worked for me in the past. Aphid explosion after moving inside being one of them.

[edit] .... met some friends at the pub last night for some live music. Got myself some old bay wings then broke out my little pocket shaker loaded with various dried peppers to up the heat. A couple people tried it and loved the flavor. They were skeptical at first knowing how I grow hots. Ended up giving the remainder away.

[4dblnkldude]

I tried to send you a pm Pete. I'll try a plant or two.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by GRX

Neem oil. Have you tried it? All natural and has worked for me in the past. Aphid explosion after moving inside being one of them.

[edit] .... met some friends at the pub last night for some live music. Got myself some old bay wings then broke out my little pocket shaker loaded with various dried peppers to up the heat. A couple people tried it and loved the flavor. They were skeptical at first knowing how I grow hots. Ended up giving the remainder away.

Think I did use Neem Oil, but will have to give it another go, we had severe drought in 2011 that exacerbated the plant stress and allowed infestation to take hold. Aphids were ample then too. I even tried tobacco, liquid soap, etc. to no avail. Thxs!

[pontiacpetey]

I washed mine off in the shower every day for a week that got it under control. just be sure you tilt the plant so the washed off aphide don't land in the soil, pain in the ass.

[pontiacs4ever1971]

I do the firecrackers, not sure the scientific name. My buddy Manny the Mexican got me started on them.

[fiedlerh]

I used to grow green peppers, red peppers, sport peppers and habañeros up to about 10 years ago. I gave up because our Northern Illinois growing season has become too short. Peppers seem to do best with long summers with hot weather and we just haven't had it in recent years. The cool and damp weather causes blossom end-rot disease and you get very few peppers.

[GRX]

Cannot speak for your growing seasons. Blossom end rot is usually caused by a Calcium deficiency. Supplement the soil with bone meal or ground egg shells.

[pontiacpetey]

I have a few of each pepper left if anyone local to me (Bucks county pa) wants one, not sure if the pms are working here or not

[GRX]

Since it is "National Hot Dog Day" I decided to enjoy the first Ghost from my garden this season appropriately. Easy to see why these peppers were used as Elephant repellant.

[68azbird]

My plants peaked production about 2 months ago. Now they don't produce again till September or October

[Formulabruce]

Gypsy Sweet peppers and bell peppers..

[Alvin]

Can't seem to rid the stink bugs, again this year...young ones bright red orange bodies w black legs