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I planted some Serrano pepper plants few days ago. The plants were growing fine until I saw a transparent substance coated around the borders of few leaves. I tried to scratch some with my nails but it didn't came off.

I found some larvae under the shiny substance also. The affected areas also started to curl

I don't know how to get rid of those. Any help would be great. enter image description here

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ok

Ranjit Panigrahi
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1 Answers1

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It looks like 'Honeydew'. Honeydew is a waste substance produced from sap sucking insects like aphids and scale. Without a picture of the insect, I can't tell you exactly what insect it is.

The best and safest way to get rid of most insects on houseplants is soapy water. The homemade insect soap spray I like to use is to mix several drops of Dawn dish liquid (you can use a different kind of dish soap but Dawn is the best) with distilled water in a spray bottle. Spray the entire plant very thoroughly. Make sure to get all stems and both the upper side and under side of the leaves. Repeat spraying the plant with the soapy water every 3-4 days until there are no more signs of insects or honeydew. This usually takes about 2 weeks.

** Scale are very obvious black or brown hard shelled insects that attach themselves to a specific spot on a leaf or stem. The only way to remove them is picking them off with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. They produce lots of honeydew but from the pictures you posted and your description, they are unlikely the problem. I wanted to include them in my answer just in case.

Avlar
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  • I removed those leaves...will that help @Avlar – Ranjit Panigrahi Oct 05 '20 at 16:03
  • No, it really won't. If you see even just one insect on a plant, There are many more that you don't see. From the amount of honeydew on the leaves in the picture, there are a lot of them and they have already spread out to the other leaves. An insect population can quickly overwhelm a plant's ability to recover. It is best to get all of them as early as possible and not wait until you see any of the other insects that are on the plant. Just removing leaves stresses out the plant even more by reducing it's ability to absorb light and does absolutely nothing to get rid of the insects. – Avlar Oct 06 '20 at 15:33
  • Please suggest a permanent way to get rid of them. I applied Neem oil extract thoroughly to every leaf twice in last 5 days. Now the plant look healthy and I don't see any honeydew residues at all. @Avlar – Ranjit Panigrahi Oct 07 '20 at 16:21
  • Killing all of them is a permanent way to get rid of them. The reason for having to reapply soap spray or neem oil (which is good too) often during a specific period of time is most of the eggs that were laid before the adults were all killed are still going to hatch. The point is to kill all newly hatched insects before they can lay eggs themselves. The eggs will hatch at different times, depending on when they were laid. Using a 2-3 week timetable is like assuming that at least 1 insect laid eggs just before it died and estimating the longest timeframe that egg could hatch in. Reapplying – Avlar Oct 09 '20 at 14:24
  • the insecticide every 2 or 3 days is to insure that you kill off the hatchlings before they can reproduce. – Avlar Oct 09 '20 at 14:26