Chilli Plant Pests

Chillies are generally tough plants, but a few pests can make a mess of fresh growth fast, particularly through Auckland's warm, humid growing season. The useful habit is a quick check whenever you water. Look under leaves, around new tips and along stems before a small problem turns into a big one.

Start with the least dramatic fix. Hose off a light aphid colony, remove badly chewed leaves, keep weeds and fallen fruit cleared away, and make sure plants have airflow. Pots need the same attention as garden beds. A plant that's stressed by drying out, crowding or poor drainage is where pests tend to settle in first. If you do need to spray, neem oil is what we use on our own plants.

Common chilli pests

• Aphids gather on soft new growth and under curled leaves. The most common pest we see.
• Whitefly are tiny white insects that fly up when you brush the plant, and build up fastest in greenhouses.
• Thrips are small, slender insects that leave silvery streaks and distorted new growth.
• Red spider mites favour hot, dry, sheltered spots and can leave fine webbing and speckled leaves.
• Flea beetles leave small holes in young leaves, especially on smaller plants.
• Slugs and snails do their damage overnight, around seedlings and new transplants.

Let the good bugs help

Ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings and parasitic wasps all help keep pest numbers down without reaching first for a spray. Our beneficial bugs guide covers where they fit.

In NZ, start checking closely from spring planting through the warm months, and keep going while plants are still growing in autumn. A few minutes each week does more than a big rescue mission later.