Grow Your Own Chillies - Everything You Need To Know - Part 3 of 3
Problems, Pests and Diseases Sucking Pests The most common sucking pests that can attack your chillies are aphids, mealy bugs, scales and mites.
These pests appear on the leaves, stems and fruit in clusters and feed on the sweet sap by inserting a needle-like sucking tube into the plant and drawing out the juice.
After the sap has been used by the insects, it is excreted as honeydew, which forms the base on which a black fungus grows.
This fungus is known as sooty mould and its presence reduces photosynthesis and discolours affected fruit.
Honeydew is used as a food source by ants, which will actively transport the insects (aphids, mealybugs and scales) to position them on the plant ('farm' them).
Ants may spread sapsucker infestations between plants via underground tunnels.
As aphids, mealybugs, scales and mites congregate in hidden places or on the lower leaf surface, they may initially not be obvious.
Affected plants appear water-stressed, and leaves turn yellow and fall.
In some cases leaves and flowers curl up and wilt.
There are a number of chemicals that you can use to get rid of these parasites however, I am not going to go into these as they are a specialized field and fairly toxic.
I don't like them.
What I use is a mixture called White Oil which is basically a petroleum based oil emulsion and works on all three pests by covering them in oil and suffocating them.
You can buy it from nurseries and garden stores and is simply mixed with water and sprayed on.
The below is a recipe for making your own at home.
These pests are relentless and are not something that you can ignore.
I have had 24 seedlings wiped out in one night by snails because I neglected to put out any pellets on the day I planted them.
The next day there were only a few 1cm high stems sticking out of the ground - I'd wasted my time because I forgot to do a 1 minute task and when I thought of it that night, decided that it could wait until tomorrow.
Dumb.
OK, for snails and slugs I recommend scattering a few snail pellets around, once a week until the plants are large enough not to be wiped out easily.
I am usually against using toxic, non-natural chemicals on or around things I intend to eat however, I am also a realist - use the pellets, just use them sparingly.
It doesn't take many.
You can go totally safe if you want and use traps that use beer or some other bait, I think they're great, I just don't have the time to maintain them.
The caterpillars are not so easy.
What I find is the best technique for me is to check the plants on the weekend and once during the week.
If there are any caterpillars to be see I spray the plants with a pyrethrum spray.
For those that aren't familiar with it, pyrethrum is a natural insecticide derived from a variety of daisy and is, I believe, the ideal solution.
It kill insects through contact or ingestion, has low toxicity to mammals and has a short residual life, i.
e.
it biodegrades over several days.
Fungal Pests The main fungus problem that affects chillies is black sooty mould, which only occurs when there are other problems present as discussed above in Sucking Pests.
If you have black sooty mould then you need treat the cause as discussed in that section.
Other Problems Chillies like a warm, sunny spot, well drained soil and regular watering during dry weather.
Over fertilising can lead to excessive foliage and fewer fruit, just like with tomatoes.
Also, as in tomatoes, chillies are prone to blossom end rot.
This is caused by a calcium deficiency and also irregular watering and can easily be prevented simply by watering regularly and applying a bit of a dressing of dolomite lime.
That's it for this third and final article.
I hope you find value in the series and widh you all the best with growing your chillies!
These pests appear on the leaves, stems and fruit in clusters and feed on the sweet sap by inserting a needle-like sucking tube into the plant and drawing out the juice.
After the sap has been used by the insects, it is excreted as honeydew, which forms the base on which a black fungus grows.
This fungus is known as sooty mould and its presence reduces photosynthesis and discolours affected fruit.
Honeydew is used as a food source by ants, which will actively transport the insects (aphids, mealybugs and scales) to position them on the plant ('farm' them).
Ants may spread sapsucker infestations between plants via underground tunnels.
As aphids, mealybugs, scales and mites congregate in hidden places or on the lower leaf surface, they may initially not be obvious.
Affected plants appear water-stressed, and leaves turn yellow and fall.
In some cases leaves and flowers curl up and wilt.
There are a number of chemicals that you can use to get rid of these parasites however, I am not going to go into these as they are a specialized field and fairly toxic.
I don't like them.
What I use is a mixture called White Oil which is basically a petroleum based oil emulsion and works on all three pests by covering them in oil and suffocating them.
You can buy it from nurseries and garden stores and is simply mixed with water and sprayed on.
The below is a recipe for making your own at home.
- Home Made White OilIt is simple to make your own white oil from vegetable oil and liquid soap.
- ½ cup dishwashing detergent
- ½ litre of vegetable oil In your food processor, blend the vegetable oil with the dishwashing detergent they're until well mixed.
Prepare the concentrate using the proportions below.
Store in a suitably labelled container, making sure to include the dilution instructions on the label for quick reference.
Ingredients:
This is your concentrate and can be stored in any sort of container, though be sure to label it and include the dilution rate.
This concentrate will separate over time, however all you need to do is give it a good shake just before you use it.
To prepare the concentrate for use, dilute 1 tablespoon in a litre of water, mix it well and spray the pest as well as both sides of the foliage thoroughly.
It's important that you stick to this dilution rate, because you can burn the foliage if it's too strong.
Also, don't apply it in hot weather and avoid using it on plants with hairy/furry foliage as well as ferns, palms and cycads as this can also cause leaf burn.
Regular applications of this easy to make oil based spray will help protect your plants from many common pests found in the garden.
Simply spray thoroughly over both sides of the foliage and onto the offending pest.
The contents of Spray as often as required.
These pests are relentless and are not something that you can ignore.
I have had 24 seedlings wiped out in one night by snails because I neglected to put out any pellets on the day I planted them.
The next day there were only a few 1cm high stems sticking out of the ground - I'd wasted my time because I forgot to do a 1 minute task and when I thought of it that night, decided that it could wait until tomorrow.
Dumb.
OK, for snails and slugs I recommend scattering a few snail pellets around, once a week until the plants are large enough not to be wiped out easily.
I am usually against using toxic, non-natural chemicals on or around things I intend to eat however, I am also a realist - use the pellets, just use them sparingly.
It doesn't take many.
You can go totally safe if you want and use traps that use beer or some other bait, I think they're great, I just don't have the time to maintain them.
The caterpillars are not so easy.
What I find is the best technique for me is to check the plants on the weekend and once during the week.
If there are any caterpillars to be see I spray the plants with a pyrethrum spray.
For those that aren't familiar with it, pyrethrum is a natural insecticide derived from a variety of daisy and is, I believe, the ideal solution.
It kill insects through contact or ingestion, has low toxicity to mammals and has a short residual life, i.
e.
it biodegrades over several days.
Fungal Pests The main fungus problem that affects chillies is black sooty mould, which only occurs when there are other problems present as discussed above in Sucking Pests.
If you have black sooty mould then you need treat the cause as discussed in that section.
Other Problems Chillies like a warm, sunny spot, well drained soil and regular watering during dry weather.
Over fertilising can lead to excessive foliage and fewer fruit, just like with tomatoes.
Also, as in tomatoes, chillies are prone to blossom end rot.
This is caused by a calcium deficiency and also irregular watering and can easily be prevented simply by watering regularly and applying a bit of a dressing of dolomite lime.
That's it for this third and final article.
I hope you find value in the series and widh you all the best with growing your chillies!
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