Growing Chili – Bugs and Pests

chili pest control

So, you’ve bought (or saved) your Chili seeds, carefully planted them and provided the optimum growing chili conditions. However danger lurks in every corner of the garden with a whole host of beastly pests and diseases ready to indiscriminately strike down your plants at a moment’s notice. These pests include insects, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

chili pest control

Slugs or Snails

Slugs and snails love to dine on a chili bush. They will nibble away the leaves and minimise the health of your plant. Fortunately slugs and snails are not too hard to prevent or remove.

Hunting down snails and slugs and disposing of them can be a highly satisfying exercise particularly if the little blighters have already struck your prized plants. There is also some chemical solutions for treating your chilli plant from pests. They are listed below.

Aphids

Aphids are the little green creatures you see on your plants. They are very sneaky and camouflage themselves to the stem or leaves and suck the sap from the trees veins. They too are easy to control.

Spraying them with a very diluted soap solution, about one teaspoon of liquid pure soap (as near to 100% fatty acids as you can get – avoid antibacterial, perfumed, & detergent based soaps) to a couple of liters of water.

Chili Plant Pest Control Products

There are various products available for pest control.

Copper is known to repel slugs and snails because it produces a very slight electric charge that they hate. You can purchase copper rings to place around the base of plant pots or can place copper tubing or piping round you raised beds. The slugs and snails can’t stand it so much they avoid crawling over to get to your chilies and will head off elsewhere in search of food. The downside to this is that copper piping or rings can be expensive, however once purchased it should last you for years.

Home Remedies to use are egg shells sprinkled around the base of your plants. Slugs hate crawling over the shells. Another method is to sprinkle used coffee grounds around the base of the plants. This is not only a snail deterrent but it helps add much needed nitrogen to the soil, aiding your pepper plants growth.

Homemade Spray A tried and tested spray made from 100g of fresh garlic, crushed and fermented for 2 days in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of liquid soap or soap powder. Strain into a garden sprayer and dilute 1 part to 50 parts water. Garlic acts as a repellent to further Aphid attack.

Chemical Control There is a range of chemical treatments that you can get from your local garden center or hardware store. Below is the top control product we have found.

 

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