I followed Mike McG's advice of bringing in a couple of large pepper plants and potting them up and putting them under grow lights in the basement. I had washed the leaves carefully and they seemed fine for the last month or so. Now, unfortunately, they are overrun with small whitish bugs, particularly on the leaves. THey are completely infested.

Anyone: What's the bug and what's the solution? thanks--

i read in an article to use diluted dish detergent. the dish detergent is biodegrateable and it clogges the pores on the insects body and kills them. it also leaves a residue on the plant for a short while(most likely longer since they are indoors) that will scare away the critters. this wasnt spesific to a certain type of bug so i am not sure if it will work or not. i read this at www.pepperjoe.com and i think it was in the FAQs.

the dish soap thing will work on those horrible little critters, but you gotta keep at it, not just apply once and forget. I can't remember what they are called, but they are horrible. I've given up on brining peppers in because of them. Do everything you can to keep the plant as healthy as possible and spray every few days with the dishsoap misture. Be sure you don't leave the plant in bright direct light after you've sprayed or you could end up frying the poor thing (yes, I lost one that way) If that doesn't work, try wiping them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Good luck. Peppers are such awesome houseplants if you can control the bugs.

You could have mealy bugs or Whitefly, which is easily determined by the reaction when you approach, but control is the same. Spray with an insecticidal soap solution (a teaspoon of a good soap, not detergent, in a quart of water) every 5 to 7 days until the buggers are gone and then every 7 to 10 days to prevent reinfestation. Real soap, that's the stuff made from lye and animal fats, works by disolving the insects exoskeleton causing them to dehydrate and die. Detergents won't do that.

Thanks for the guidance...when you say soap, could you give examples? You say "teaspoon" of soap made from lye and animal fats, but I'd have thought that all "liquid" soaps are detergent soaps. Should I just melt some bar soap, such as Ivory or Lever 2000? Is there a liquid soap made from lye and animal fats? (I'm sorry if I sound like an ignoramus!)

Will too much soap on the leaves harm the plants? The critters, whatever they are, also infested other plants in my grow-light heaven; is it fairly safe to spray any plant?

I'll take any additional suggestions from others out there on identifying the bug and for prevention; i.e., what did I do wrong that invited them in? I washed the leaves carefully before bringing them in as Mike McG advised(!).

No, ignoramous! X-( Only dumb question, is question NOT asked!

As has been suggested, you're either plagued with whitefly, aphids, mealy bugs..or fungus gnats. Any of which could have been lying dormant in the soil. So even though you thoroughly washed the leaves the little "buggers" just crawled up from the soil when they found themselves in a nice warm, homey environment!

Homemade insecticidal soap is generally a 10:1:1 mix of (l0 parts) water + (1 part) vegetable based oil (such as canola, safflower, sunflower, olive oil + (1 part) gentle liquid soap (such as Castile or Ivory). The soap is the surficant (or "flowing agent") and the oil is what ultimately suffocates the bugs. Thus, the oil is the primary ingredient for erradicating the pests. And, as Kimm said, you've got to be dilligent with the spraying. Every 5 - 7 days. And make SURE to pay special attention to the underside of the leaves. That's where they love to hide!

Also, test your "concoction" on a couple of leaves, before you apply it to the entire plant. Spray and wait a day. See how the leaves react. Cause if your homemade mixture's calculations are off too much, you may risk burning (or phytotoxicity) of the leaves. Take them out from under the lights when spraying, also.

But, if you want to hedge your bet and not go the homemade route, just go to any nursery or Big Box store and get yourself some Safer. Insecticidal Soap.

BTW: Nice to hear from another fan of Mr. McG.!

gardenz

Real soap, those made from animal fats are like Ivory, Fels Naptha, etc. Look at the label, if its not a real soap it will have detergent on the label. Some liquid soaps are also made from animal fats, but look closely at the label to be sure. While they won't say "made from animal fats" there are many clues.
To make the bar soaps useful as insecticidal soaps shave some of it off into some hot water so it gels and take a teaspoon of that and mix it into the water you are going to use as the spray. What you want is about a 1 percent mix of soap to water.
Too much can be harmful but if the mix is about right there should be no problem. You probably did nothing "wrong" to invite them in just missed some eggs on the plant or someplace else.