Spray away

One of the problems with overwintering plants indoors (besides finding space for them all, giving them enough light, etc.) is insects. Mealy bugs, whiteflies, fungus gnats, spider mites, aphids -- you'll most likely see all of these during the cold months. I know I do.

Right now I've got two plants that are infected, and I need to take care of the problem before it spreads everywhere.

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The Elephant bush has mealy bugs:

A pepper plant that I'm trying to overwinter for the first time (just having learned this year that peppers are perennial) has a few aphids:

Okay, maybe more than a few:

My usual weapon against these pests is insecticidal soap:

This is a gentle organic control method in that it uses natural soaps (not detergents) to kill the pests. The potassium fatty acids in the soap break down the insect's cells or something like that -- it must be sprayed directly on the pests.

Unfortunately it will damage some types of plants -- succulents are potentially susceptible to this. So I'm going to use a non-organic chemical systemic insecticide on the Elephant bush:

A systemic is taken up by the plant's roots and distributed throughout the plant internally. Juice-sucking insects then ingest the poison, killing them.

You mix up a pretty small quantity of the stuff with water:

The water looks only slightly cloudy after adding the toxin. I'll use this jar a couple of times this winter I'm sure.

You can't use the systemic on edibles, so I'll use the insecticidal soap on the pepper. Or maybe not...

I found this other organic spray containing Neem oil in my gardening cupboard. I think I'll use that on the pepper instead and see how it does.

Neem oil can damage some plants too, so I also sprayed a couple of the low-hanging branches on the Elephant bush with it:

It will be good to know if it causes any problems on this plant.

I broke off a piece of the plant while I was spraying:

I'll pot that up and get a new plant out of it!

One thing that may lessen the effectiveness of the sprays (not the systemic) is that they are not fresh. I mixed them up several months ago or longer. If I don't get the results I expect I'll mix up a fresh batch and spray with that. I'll need to spray again in a week or so anyway -- the spray doesn't kill eggs (or at least not all types of eggs) and I want to eradicate all of the pests, not just a single generation.

On warm days I may find a ladybug (lady beetle) outside, which I then try to capture and release on my plants. It's not the most effective solution though, and relies too much on chance.

So I'll be spraying away for most of the winter.

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