My pepper plant is being eaten!?

Question

I have recently planted sweet red peppers (similar to bell peppers but resembling the shape of chillies). They have just started to "blossom" and I am now finding that some of the leaves are being eaten away. Small holes are forming, usually on the interior of the leaves but there have been some edges that are also being affected. There has been some browning of the leaves as well but only on two or three and mainly at the edges. They are exposed to fair direct sunlight; through the trees and only in the afternoon from 1pm untill about six or seven. They are being well watered and fertilized and are growing in a very large pot - not in the ground.

I have considered introducing lady bugs to help controle whatever is eatting the plants. Are lady bugs effective? What else can I do to in order to assure that I will provide the best natural course for the plants and allow for them to produce a reasonable "fruit".

Answer 1

I grow a whole lot of peppers each year from New Mexican type chiles to sweet frying peppers to bell peppers. The damage you mention sounds like Flea Beetles.

Flea beetles love to eat new leaves of pepper plants.  Flea beetles are not fleas BTW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_beetle

I post on one of my web pages about how to prevent pests and at the bottom of the page is a recipe for making your own bug spray. It works! I've even had good results using it on flea beetles and on using it even on Japanese Beetles.  Visit:

http://home.att.net/~ekyorigins/remedies...

for the recipe.

Also, since pepper growing is similar to tomato growing, you might find this page helpful:

http://home.att.net/~ekyorigins/toms.htm...

By the way, I've tried other home remedies for flea beetles such as flour and haven't found they help much.

Answer 2

If you want to avoid chemical pesticides then I recommend a simple soap and water mixture in a spray bottle applied weekly, or after it rains.  This took are of the problems I was having with my tomato and bell pepper plants.

Answer 3

You only want a lady bug if your sure it's an aphid, because that's all the lady bugs eat.

Try Liquid Seven, it's a spray. I use it on my tomato plants. You can get it at any garden or department store. Spray the stems and leaves lightly once every four days ad it will kill the white butterfly's and chiggers eating your plant.

Answer 4

One of the easiest things you can do to ward off bugs is clear any weeds within 12 feet of any plant. Weeds are breeding grounds for bugs. So by getting rid of these weeds in adjacent areas will knock down bug populations. Here is a natural bug spray. Get a plastic spray bottle from Walmart or a dollar store.  Fill it 3/4 with water. Buy some very fine powder garlic powder ( the finer the better). If you have any fine screening material around cut out a one inch square and attach it to the bottom of the spray straw for the spray bottle. Use a rubber band to do this and make sure its on there tight. This will keep the garlic from clogging the spray mechanism. Add one tablespoon of the garlic powder. Now shake the bottle up to dissolve the garlic powder. You may need to shake it for about 4 minutes to really dissolve it. Once you get the garlic pretty dissolved you should add one drop of a mild dish soap. This will help the garlic spray stick to the leaves. Give it a few shakes to mix the soap good. Now you have an organic bug spray.Spray it liberally and make sure to get it under the leaves the best you can.  Re-apply it after a heavy watering or rain . Good Luck! Btw, wait to add the soap after you dissolve the garlic powder otherwise you may get a lot of foam which will interrupt the spray.