Pepper problem??

[Veggiemama]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and i hope some of you can answer my question and hopefully put my mind at rest.

I have 22 buckets of sweet and chilli peppers in my polytunnel. They have been great. All growing really well and i have been nuturing them from seed.
When i was out at them the other day, i noticed lots of little flies around them Not blackfly, just midges really.

Anyway, i have this insecticde concentration spray that i got online. I diluted it and sprayed all my pepper plants with it.

The next day when i checked them, the leaves were all mottled with the spray and some had curled up.

I realised that i had made up the solution wrongly. Really really silly.

Now the flowers are just starting to form....my question is...Have i killed my plants?? The plants themselves are still robust, but i just cant rest not knowing if i have killed them or not. I know time will tell, but just wondered if any of you would know to save me some sleepless nights.

Thanking you in advance
Veggiemama

[zazen999]

Oh dear. You live and learn.

I'd give them a good dousing with clean water and cross fingers. Once new growth forms, I'd pick off any curled leaves so that they don't put any energy into them at all.

And throw away the insecticide! You don't need it. Get some good ventilation and some other bugs in there and let them do the work for you.

[Veggiemama]

Hi thanks for your reply.

The stuff i used (just gone and had a look at the bottle) was SAVONA soap concentrate.

The main ingredient is potassium salts of fatty acids.
I thought this was organis, so safe to use.....but obviously my dilution was all wrong...my mind was elsewhere

I have picked some of the leaves off, the worst ones, so will have alook tomorrow and do the rest.

Thanks
veggiemama

[zazen999]

The problem is that soft soap only works on aphids, so won't have any effect on midges, if that's what they are. It works by stopping their breathing mechanism so that you can drown them with a jet of water or a good rainfall. It's all to do with the wetting agent in the soap rather than the soap itself.

The first thing to look at is always 'what is the problem exactly' and then look at the options. Midges usually hover around the soil as it is decaying - so a sawdust or gravel mulch would get rid...if it is indeed midges [or fungus gnats]...and watering from the bottom to keep the top dryer helps.

[Veggiemama]

Thanks,

I will take on board what you have said.

I live out in the countryside, so i am sorta sure these are just midges. We have loads here but the house martins usually get rid of a fair few of them.

Ther was some mould on the slug pellets i have around the base, so i will take those away too.

Thanks again for your help.

I will introduce myself properly on the newbie board.
veggiemama

[Veggiemama]

Ok, i have gone out to the polytunnel and caught one of them in my sons specimen thingys.

It definately doesnt look like any of the pictures i have seen online of a fungus gnat. My Oh had a look too and he doesnt think it is.

I was so so stupid to spray them as the plants were not being affected by them BEFORE i sprayed hem.

Anyway, i had another good look, its just the sweet peppers that were affected the most and all new growth and little flower bulbs all seem fine.

Fingers crossed and a prayer to mother nature is in order i think. Hopefully she will be kind to me as she knows how hard i have worked

veggiemama

[zazen999]

I think you need to find out what they are before proceeding!

[Veggiemama]

I dont know how to hey jusy look like the midges we have all the time here. All the other plants are fine. I have seen them on the tomatoes too, but no damage, no sign of anything in the soil, etc and so on.

I think i might get some of those sticky things and catch them....what do you think/

I'll try to take a photo of them...not gonna be easy, my Oh might do it for me tomorrow after work.

thanks
veggiemama

[Two_Sheds]

i noticed lots of little flies around them Not blackfly, just midges really.

My first thought was fungus gnats (due to overwatering) but you say not... if they are just midges, ignore them. Midges will eat you, not your peppers