• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

pests bug problem

pshngo

pshngo

Mid August I went on a two week vaca to come back and see all my cayenne and habs had pepper maggots, but none of my jalepeno had maggots?. They were in there first season so I decided to pull them all but one and prune the one I left and leave the garden empty. Now I have maggots in my pods again!!! Anyone know how to get rid or stop them from coming back? Next season is my first time growing super hots and I don't want to have my pods destroyed.
I have read a few web pages and most of them say to pull the plant and replace the top soil? <-- doesn't seem right sounds lazy to me.
 
could you take some pics that would help. also isolate some in a jar to see what the adults look like after they morph.
 
darn i threw out all the pods! no entry holes in the pods i looked at them through a magnifying glass.I think the fly lays the eggs under the hood of the pepper. the hood of the pepper and stem turns yellow and when you pluck the stem off the top of the pepper is open. the seeds are blackend and there are 2-3 lil whitish /yellowish maggots..
like this
peppers_insects_pepper_maggot2_zoom.jpg
 
Hi pshngo,

Looks like you have fruit fly infestation. I am current facing the same problem. Many of my chilli pods are dropping prematurely. Upon opening up the pod you will notice white color maggots 1/2 cm in length. They will spread bacteria into the pods causing them to rot in order to feed on the rotting material. You can set up some homemade fruit fly traps using apple cider vinegar or even vegemite! You can also use attractant traps using methyl eugenol which will attract the males there. ( its a good way to monitior the population of the fruit fly). But so far from my reading the best method currently used is fruit fly bait laced with very mild dose of insecticide using either spinosad or malathion. Both are very effective in killing both male and female fruit fly before the start laying eggs. They are protein bait derived from yeast extract. Brands that you can look in to includes Naturalure, Nature's Way Fruit fly control, GF-120 NF Naturalyte etc. Hope that helps.

Mark T

 
thanks! i will look into that,.do you know if it is true that the worm pupate in the soil and go dormant till the weather gets warmer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top