Burn Those Bugs with Pepper Spray!
We’ve all watched manly adventurers take down charging bears with pepper spray. We’ve also seen it used to control rioting old ladies at Wayne Newton concerts. And we’ve wondered — how can we gardeners get in on the fun?
Now we can with an all-natural insect control that’s perfectly safe around the house, but makes bugs wish they’d never been born. It’s Hot Pepper Wax and the Grump is here to tell you that it really works. Spray it on a plant according to label directions and any insect that takes a bite will be too busy looking for a glass of milk to take a second one.
I just used it against some little beetles that suck sap from my daylily flower buds and cause them to fall off before they open. Those beetles took off and never returned.
Hot pepper wax is both an insecticide and a repellent. It blends capsaicin from cayenne peppers with highly refined paraffin wax to coat plants with a thin, invisible barrier against pests. The wax allows one spraying to work for up to two weeks, regardless of weather. It also acts as an anti-transpirant to reduce water loss from plants during hot weather.
Deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other varmints don’t like like having their tongues go up in flames either. You can buy gallons of the stuff to apply through a tank sprayer, but I prefer a ready-to-use spray bottle. You’ll find it in garden centers or you can simply click on the link above.
Bugs — get ready to burn!!! Scream to your PETA mamas!!!
I need help with my blackeyed
susans. All the bottom leaves
have turned brown and are
dying. What should I use for
this problem.
Three of my beautiful gardinas
have died. They were about
4 years old and all of a sudden the leaves started
turning yellow, then brown
and then the completly died.
Any suggestions when I plant
new ones?
Gail,
The problem with your black-eyed Susans sounds like a leaf spot disease. This disease spreads by splashing water, so avoid getting the leaves wet when you water. Remove and discard all diseased foliage. Then spray your plants according to label directions with a fungicide such as Daconil or Immunox.
Gail,
It’s hard to say what when wrong with your gardenias without being able to see them. It could be whiteflies, which feed on the undersides of the leaves. Black mold on the leaves is a sign of their presence. Brush the leaves when you buy new plants. If they have whiteflies, you’ll see them. To control them, spray according to label directions with horticultural oil or a systemic insecticide such as Orthene. Other than that, when you replant make sure your gardenias have fertile, acid, well-drained soil and plenty of sun.
I guess if you use this on a food producing plant you just have to wash carefully before consuming?
That’s right. Just wash it before eating.
I’m guessing I should not use this as a personal insect repellent for when I sit out on the deck and watch The Real Housewives of NJ.
Probably not. On the other hand, it would make you a real hottie.
I don’t doubt it one bit. I grew cayenne peppers last year and made my own deer repellent with it and some other scented leaves like rosemary. The deer didn’t touch anything I sprayed. Of course I didn’t have a wax mixed in to make it last longer. I may have to try this on some Japanese beetles that are bugging me.
Do you think this would be good on ribs?
It should be if you like them spicy. I’m going out for Indian food tonight. Maybe I’ll take a bottle with me.
I just today witnessed a rabbit eat the blooms off of my Steel Blue Thistle. That is the one remaining thistle with blooms. The rabbit already chompped my other thistle in half. I’m off to buy a bottle of Hot Pepper Wax first thing tomorrow.
Burn, rabbit, burn!!
I have some impatients in the garden. I noticed one of them appeared to be drying up and dying. The next day, I noticed the next one was doing the same. Now I have four of them in a row. All dying. Any ideas? All of the rest of the impatients are flouishing.
My angel trumpet has been over fertilized and appears to be dying…leaves are turning yellow & wilted..HELP!!!Is there anything that can save these ??
Dick,
Impatiens that mysteriously dry up is a fairly common problem. There are two likely causes, both diseases. The first is crown rot, which is caused by overwatering in heavy soil. This is easy to do at this time of year, when impatiens wilt every day from the heat. The solution: pull up any seriously diseased plants and spray the others with a fungicide such as Daconil or Immunox. And before you water, make sure plants are wilting from dry soil, rather than afternoon heat.
The second possible cause is a soil-borne disease called Verticillium wilt. This usually shows up in beds where impatiens have been planted year after year. The only solution is to plant your impatiens somewhere else for a while.
Lila,
As I don’t know how often you fertilized your plant and with what, I can’t tell you for sure that’s the problem. Yellowing, wilted leaves can be caused by lots of things, such as overwatering. One thing you might check for is spider mites on the undersides on the leaves. They multiply vary quickly in warm weather. They’ll show up as tiny specks that move around if you touch them. You can control them by spraying both the tops and bottoms of leaves with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Pull off and discard any leaves that are yellow already. If overfeeding is the problem, flushing out the soil with water should help.
if you have a glass of water and you put pepper in it and then spray bug spray in the water the pepper goes to the bottom why is that i need to know the answer so please help me
Because the pepper has broken the surface tension of water due to the bug spray.