A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Please help!!!

Hello everyone,
I'm back again, with updates and problems. My transplanted tomatoes seem to be doing ok, survived the transplantation.


BUT, now, I seem to have some problem with the peppers and the zinnia plants. They seem to be under ATTACK (
At first I thought its some kind of dusty mildew, so I sprayed them with "Garden safe" brand fungicide, but that did not seem to reduce the problem. Here are the pictures taken this morning to show what I'm talking about.





Also there are several blooms in my 1foot long pepper plants. Are these blooms ok? or is it too early? Should I pinch off the flowers? I already see one pepper growing to about 1 inch length.

The zinnia that I brought about one month ago does not seem to have grown at all and its in the same status since one month, and now these pests, dono't know what to do with them!!!

The hibiscus bloomed a lot , so far, but all those buds were already there when I brought it home from the nursery. But now that those buds are almost over, I don't see too many new growths. Also almost every day I see one leaf turning yellow. Here's a picture.


Someone, please suggest what is lacking that all my plants seem so unhappy!!!
My balcony faces the west and it gets direct sunlight from 3-7pm every day. also I water the hibiscus almost every alternate day, since I read that it likes to be moist. I water the remaining plants as needed (when they turn day).

I would really apprecate any inputs.

Thanks a lot!
Deepanwita

Those are bugs of some type under the leaves of the peppers. Can't quite tell what though. Some insecticidal soap or whiteoil might be the answer.
Zinnias like plenty of sun and don't mind drying out a bit. I'd snip the flowers off to encourage them to bush up and bloom again.
Early blooms on the peppers is OK. Means early fruit. They like a warm to hot place to grow and plenty of direct sunlight.
There is new growth on the hibiscus. The paleish green tips are pretty new. It'll probably pick up the pace a bit once the weather warms.

They look like aphids.... and some look like the cast skins of aphids.

Aphids attack pepper and hibiscus a lot.

Zennias often get powdery mildew.

1% insecticidal soap should work for the aphids.

Thank you Longy and Buglady for your suggestions. I did wipe the pepper plants with dilute detergent. The hibiscus has not yet been affected by apihds, so I kept it away from the peppers, as suggested (in my post at the container gardening section). However, I have very little space, just a medium sized balcony in my 3rd floor apartment, so how far does "far" mean? Should I move the hibiscus from the balcony itself?
Also, most of my hibiscus leaves are becoming yellow and falling off:( Is that a bad sign, or is it common. As many as 4-5 leaves are becoming yellow every day!
I would really appreciate any suggestions.

Deepanwita

hibiscus leaves will yellow if soap if applied to strong. no more then 1% solution of insecticidal soap. They are added chemicals in dish soap at that could cause leaf drop too. They will also yellow and drop if there is sudden temperature changes or they dry out.

Also fyi soaps and detergents are not the same thing.