Jimmy Nardello Peppers

I picked the last of the Jimmy Nardello peppers. I only had one plant and it was looking pretty bad. Earlier this summer I picked about a dozen peppers from this plant so it did alright. The aphids thrived on this plant but it tolerated the invasion.

The aphids are back

I was moving stuff around on the balcony and I put the basil up one a small bench to get it more sunlight. Once up there I had a better look at it from a different angle and there they were. Aphids. Just one plant. So I pinched off the top and tossed it. I didn't find any more on plants in that same container but in another container I found more on some fino verde basil. I don't think there is anything else in that container they like or can harm so maybe that 's where they'll stay. But I've been through this so many times in the past and I know how it ends: a complete aphid infestation. They can have the fino verde, but I won't be happy if they take over the Genovese.

Aphid eaters

The sudden departure of the aphid colonies from my peppers seemed a little too... sudden. I was having a good look at some of the plants tonight and noticed a few tiny worm like creatures slinking around on the leaves. I believe they are hoverfly larvae. I haven't seen any of them eating any aphids because there are no aphids left to eat. These larvae move around like an inch worm and do so very quickly. And as they move they constantly "feel around" for something to eat. I've seen hoverfly larvae before but not quite like these ones. I wish there had been some aphids around for them to eat. It's fun to watch.

Aphids making an exit

The wasps that have been buzzing around the peppers for the past couple weeks still come by occasionally but not that often. Instead of the six or seven I see constantly hovering around and licking honeydew from the pepper plant leaves I now only see one or two at a time and they don't linger long. A couple weeks ago I noticed that the aphid colonies on my California Wonder pepper plants were thriving so I blasted them with a rather potent solution of neem oil and dish soap. Not much different from what I've used in the past. I sprayed the plants a few times before leaving town for a week. That was two weeks ago. Now the aphids appear to be gone or at least beaten back significantly. And I figure the wasps aren't hanging around because there aren't enough aphids to produce honeydew for them.

But aphids are only one problem plaguing the California Wonders. I planted them up high along the edge of the balcony half wall to provide maximum sunlight. Unfortunately being up there also means maximum wind exposure. And these poor plants really take a beating. Every leaf has a tear or rip or hole in it. Despite this, they continue to put out flowers. But it's a bit too hot for fruit set. On one plant I have a single pepper, perhaps a little bigger than my fist. And on the other I see a couple of new peppers starting to form. Perhaps now with the aphids in retreat things will get better.

Syrphid Fly Larvae - Devourer of Aphids

I was inspecting some beets that have been growing in a box on the balcony for a couple of weeks now and discovered a few small worm like insects crawling about on the leaves. There didn't appear to be many aphids on the leaves that had these things so I watched them for a while and was pleasantly surprise to see them viciously attack and devour aphids when they came across them.

These are syrphid or hoverfly larvae. Hoverflies are small bee like insects that hover around flowers looking for nectar. You can find them everywhere in my part of the world. Even up on my balcony.

The larvae are fun to watch. They hunt around for aphids and when the catch one they hold it up in the air to eat it and within a few minutes, are finished eating and go looking for another. The one's I found are not very long: just a few millimeters.

Aphids On My Eggplant

I potted a pair of bambino eggplants last week and already there are aphids sucking on them. These were plants I started indoors back in April or maybe even late March and never saw an aphid during their time indoors. I used new potting soil in the container they went into. I can't recall using that container last year but I'm sure at one time something in that container had aphids but I don't recall what it was or when.



It wasn't a complete infestation of aphids though. Just a few that were easily eradicated. I found them when I noticed a few spots of honeydew on the lower leaves - a dead give away that there are aphids feeding on the upper leaves. The plants are looking healthy so if I can keep them that way and get rid of any aphids I see whenever I see them, everything should be fine. Of course, I say that now. I might not be as attentive come late July.

I've also discovered spider mites on a small container of Golden Hops that I picked up at a nursery last weekend. I bought it on a whim, picturing a container with huge hops vines stretching up over a trellis. The plant sat for a while before I finally had a really good look at it. A couple of the lower leaves were dried up and curled and I could see the fine webs that the mites leave on the undersides of the leaves.



Spider mites are incredibly small but if you stare at a leaf that has them long enough you'll notice them moving around. They are also an absolute pain to get rid of for balcony gardeners. So I have to decide what to do with this little plant. Hop vines can reach lengths of 20 feet so you can imagine the trouble I'll have if this plant were allowed to grow up and became infested. The mites would quickly spread to my other plants. Not good.

I'm still in the process of potting my started plants. It's a never ending process. Was looking at some Klari "Baby Cheese" Pepper plants I have yet to pot and noticed the lower leaves are yellowing and falling off. I should have re-potted these a long time ago. I have been applying a mild dilution of fertilizer but it's just not enough. Time for a more permanent home.