There is nothing worse than spending all that time nuturing your little babies only to have them attacked by pests the second you get them out doors. Here are a few tips for dealing with various common pests.

Diggers

Diggers include squirrels, cats, dogs etc. Last summer I had all my plants in 5 gallon containers on my deck. Immediately after putting them out there, the squirrels in the neighborhood started digging in the new loose soil. I lost one plant immediately, the buggers managed to split the stem of the plant right at the base I had to do something quick. I read online that the easiest way to stop this is by simply covering the soil around the stems with pea gravel. I think anything with sharp nails hates scratching them in stone, it isn’t worth the effort to them. It stopped them cold, never had a problem again all summer long, at least with the digging.

White Flies and Aphids

These are the real enemy of the pepper plant. These little bugs sit under the leaves and slowly kill the plant off. You will find a pepper plant that is being attacked by aphids will drop flowers, and just stop growing all together, it will begin to wilt and start dropping leaves. I check weekly to make sure I don’t have any and if I do find some I take care of it right away. Here is how to get rid of this pest;

Mix 1-2 tbsps of dish soap into a spray bottle of water. Spray the underside of each leaf, this washes the bugs away, it works really, really well.

Another way to discourage whiteflies or aphids from coming near your plant is to plant marigolds around your pepper plant. Apparently whiteflies and aphids don’t like something in the marigolds and it will help deter them.

Nibblers

If you notice that something has been nibbling at your leaves there are a few usual suspects that you can look at. One is the slug. The slug is stoppable in one of two ways. First, take a half can of beer and bury the can in the ground around your plants leaving only the top lip and opening exposed, the slug will be more interested in the beer than your plants. Change the beer can every week and be warned, rotting slugs smell awful.

You can also deter slugs by purchasing some copper mesh from a garden center and placing it in a long tube like fashion around the parameter of your garden. Slugs can’t stand copper!

Another common form of nibbler is the one that is eating your peppers. Honestly the easiest way to stop animals from eating your peppers is to give them something else to eat. Feed the squirrels, rabbits and whatever else you have and they will stay away from your peppers. It sounds silly but when all else fails, it could be your last hope. Squirrels, raccoons, birds, you name it all love corn on the cob. You can buy squirrel feeders that are nothing more than a board with a nail sticking up the middle that you attach to a tree, simply put a cob of corn on the nail. Change it regularly.

Hope this helps and you all have a great summer and a great crop! It has been a pleasure writing these articles.

–Jay

Well the peppers are growing like crazy and I’ve harvested enough to keep myself and all those around me up to their eyeballs in fiery foods. Two weeks ago I had so many that I took a note from Steve and his famous holiday pepper tradition and took a stab at making pepper vinegar bottles.

This harvest included Cayennes, White Habaneros, Red Savina Habs, New Mexico Green Chiles, Island Fires, Red Thai, Chocolate Habs, Orange Habs, Chileptins, one Naga and some Jalapenos.

Quick Garden Update: The cayennes have been the most prolific pepper producer so far, but followed closely by the White Habanero. The Island Fire plant and Bhut Jolokias are now over 6 feet tall!

I’ll save the details on what to do here for Steve (read it in detail here) but the biggest tip of all is to make sure you’ve got everything you’ll need out and ready. You don’t want to be opening drawers or handling other items with pepper juice all over your hands. And wear gloves!

As for bottles - we had saved up our used Patron bottles and have even ordered more off of eBay to use for the batches we’ll be producing in the next few weeks.

These first three turned out so well that I was able to finally convince Laura that my pepper garden had a purpose - she now wants to give these out as Christmas gifts. After this batch, I made a special batch just for myself - all Red Savinas and White Habaneros. That bottle now sits on the corner of my desk in my office - as a warning for those that get to close.