What's eating my jalapeño?

Jalapeños share the pepper pest complex: aphids are the top threat, spreading mosaic viruses quickly. Thrips scar developing fruit skin. Pepper weevils and European corn borers bore into pods. In cool wet gardens, slugs attack low-set fruit. Monitoring and early intervention prevent the greatest losses.

Sticky shoot tips; mottled or puckered leaves from virus infection; honeydew encourages sooty mould Reflective mulch under plants; insecticidal soap sprays; beneficial insects; remove heavily infested growing tips

Silver-grey streaking and scarring on fruit skin; bronzing of leaves; thrips also spread tomato spotted wilt virus Blue sticky traps; spinosad spray; remove weeds and plant debris; introduce Amblyseius cucumeris predatory mites

Oviposition punctures on young pods; larvae feeding inside cause misshapen or dropped fruit Collect and destroy dropped pods; spinosad or pyrethrin; clean up crop residues thoroughly at season end

Larvae tunnel through pepper walls leaving frass; compromised fruit rots quickly Btk sprayed at egg-hatch; spinosad; pheromone traps for adult monitoring