it was quite difficult to get a picture of the bugs, since the camera kept wanting to focus on the cup, but I did the best I could. how do I spray them when they're that small? and I tried squishing some of them, they seem kinda hard. as in like a non soft bodied insect. will soap even work?

It's most likely aphids. Just gently rub them dead or use a spray bottle with some neem. Do they move real slow when you nudge them?

Are they possibly eggs? Are some black AND grey?

Try picking some off and put in a jar, take pic and then magnify the pic in photoshop or windows picture viewer.

Kevin

Judo, those look identical to what I battled all last summer and starting to see them on my babies again this week in my screened porch. I sprayed them a few times over the summer and kileld them. Those look like the bug sacs to me. I rubbed them off with my fingers. The ants were around too. I had to kill everything and sprinkle cinnamon around my pots and it helped.

Yeah those for sure are aphids, use horticultural soap, it's gentle. Oil works too, the ants are collecting the aphid honeydew. Insecticides work, but the plants are so small.
Yeah they seem to love peppers. Use the soap a few times, follow label directions. Plant beneficial flowers that attract lady bugs as they love aphids!

Here is a link that might be useful: Beneficial flowers

+1 on them being aphids. It is pretty tough to control them if the plants are going outside. If you do get ride of them, they will likely become infested right away again. The Aphids love the new tender growth. You can spray them off with water, but they will likely come back. You can use insecticidal soap, but they will likely come back as it is not persistent. Alternately, you could use a commercial pesticide and it would likely be affective at killing them and also help to prevent re-infestation, it should be a last resort. I would first try the above, add in the cinnamon and also try to control any ants in the area as they "Farm" the aphids who in turn protect the aphids from predators.

The other solution is a couple of desired insects who are predators of the aphid. The most common being the Lady Bug. If you have them present in the area, you likely won't have an aphid problem. Many growers buy them in bulk and release them on the infected plants. As long as the food supply holds out, the Lady Bugs will stick around. The only problem is that outside, they will dissipate quickly. Inside the house or in a green house, they are very affective. But then you have Lady bugs crawling around the house as well.

I would start with squishing them by hand, rinsing them off and using a bit of cinnamon as suggested by jifjifjif2000. The cinnamon will also help to prevent damping off fungus which is another problem found with small pepper seedlings.

the real question is, since the plants are shorter than the cups, how do I spray them? I've got dr bronners, and neem. when it was slightly warmer I had a swarm of ladybugs around my plants, and I haven't sprayed since november. but when I cut back the ones I was saving and threw the rest away, I lost my ladybug herd. I still see a few, but they're on the bigger plants, never on the seedlings.

I am strongly considering buying some.

on the plus side, I made my first batch of 5-1-1 today.

Cut the cups down.

Kevin

I have a tank sprayer for my fruit trees, so with the wand it would be easy to get in there. You can set the nozzle to a fine mist.

Hold the cup up in the air and spray upward unto the bottom of the leaves. You can also hold the cup with the seedling snuggly between your fingers, tip upside down, and spray the bottom of the leaves.

Sandy

Or... you can just rub on the solution with a paper towel or Q-tip.

Kevin

Yes, Q-tip is good option too. I've used it!

I never thought about the q tips. I'm gonna have to try that. I'm gonna be putting them in 2 gallon pots within the next week (by that I mean probably next weekend). when I do they'll be coming out of their cups anyway.

I went out and squished the aphids on some of the worst ones. maybe that'll help.

given that these things are weeks old and barely past cotyledon stage. with this much stunting I can't help wondering if maybe I should just throw them all away and restart with fresh seeds.

to top if all off a caterpillar got onto my seedling tray, and now my one tabasco seedling is pretty much gone. I effing hate bugs. I can see why people use commercial pesticides.

This post was edited by judo_and_peppers on Sun, Feb 16, 14 at 2:42

OK. If I were to do it:

-- Cut the cup down (as suggested).
-- put some paper towel or newspaper around the stem and tape with masking tape.
--Take it outside,hold it upside down.
-- Using a sprayer/mister, in SPRAY?JET? mode, spray the heck out of the aphid. You should be home free at least for a while.
JMO