Attack of the Aphids!

It's hard to believe that a little CREATURE less than 1/10 of an inch long can do so much DESTRUCTION! Our PEPPER plants have been growing very well inside the home on the window boxes we made until just a few days ago. Being a soft bodied, pear-shaped green insect, I guess it is not too surprising that these little creatures can find their way inside. One day, it's nice healthy green leaves and the next day the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off the plants. Aphids usually over-winter in bark and dead leaves and appear at the end of May. They lay eggs on the undersides of leaves and when the newbies hatch, they just start sucking the juices out of the plants. They can reproduce quickly and really make a mess of your healthy plants. I took about 3 hours and inspected each plant and sprayed them with insecticidal soap. Being an organic gardener, insecticidal soap, garlic or water are a few of the choices on my list. Once the aphids were removed, I watered the plants well and will watch them over the next few days to insure I have gotten rid of those pests.
Aphids seem to like peppers quite a bit but have not touched my tomatoes.
To date, here's what PEPPERS I have left and growing:

FAT N SASSY = 2
VOLCANO = 2
JALAPENO = 3
CA WONDER = 8
SWEET BANANA = 23
GRAND BELL = 32

It looks like I will have to be planting more PEPPERS soon. The weather is just starting to get warm again and I am hoping the cold nights will stay away. Over the next week, I will concentrate on getting the outdoor veggies like BEETS, SPINACH, PEAS and CORN in the ground. Don't be in too much of a rush to get those peppers and tomatoes outside just yet, as we still can have a FROST. Happy Planting!