Organic Pest Management for Chile Peppers

Chile peppers are a popular vegetable in many back yard gardens.

Garden Resources Growing Tomatoes Growing Zucchini Organic Gardening Home

The term chile pepper collectively refers to all the hot peppers in the capsicum genus. The Agricultural Research Service estimates that between 1993-2005, chile pepper consumption increased 38% in the United States. Since capsaicin, a natural pain reliever, is the active ingredient in chile peppers, one can only wonder how many headaches were averted because of a country's changing culinary habits.

Organic pest management for growing chile peppers is a two step process consisting of pre-planting and post-planting practices.

Pre-planting organic management practices start by understanding that large scale chile farming operations are vulnerable to a variety of pest issues. In the pre-planting stage, root-knot nematodes are small round worms that thrive in the drier and sandier soil suitable for chile growing. They live their lives in the soil, consuming most plants in their living space. Typically farmers have used pesticides to deal with large scale nematode attacks because they cause so much damage to the plants.

Small scale organic chile gardeners need not worry as much about nematode attacks. Many experts recommend soil solarization as the natural approach to pre-planting garden soil management for many vegetables, including chile peppers. Soil solarization is an easy task with one minor complicating factor. You need to plan in advance. The goal of solarizing soil is to raise soil temperatures high enough to eliminate the unwanted seeds and biological pests in it. Prepare the soil by removing all dead plant matter, following up by adding some compost. Once the soil is cleaned, you place a clear sheet of thick plastic over it for about eight weeks of sun, less if you live in a high sun area. The plastic accelerates the soil heating process, eliminating the pests, and the end result is generally clean soil, ready for planting.

Post-planting organic pest management practices start by understanding the types of pests associated with growing chile peppers. The New Mexico Chile Task Force lists twelve common insect pests and eleven common beneficial insects associated with growing chile peppers. They provide good picture identification and textual explanations of the insects.



The natural pest management task generally consists of introducing the appropriate beneficial insects into your garden to deal with the specific pest issue you identify. Sometime you can also use insecticidal soaps or botanical insecticides to deal with your particular issue. For example, if you diagnose your pest problem as thrips, you have thrips management choices from all three categories of organic remedies. Lady Beetles are probably the most common beneficial insect to use for thrips. However, a small mite called Amblyseius cucumeris, is another a well known remedy. Thrip problems can also be mitigated by applications of natural soaps and oils on the commercial market.

The Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University also provides a comprehensive list of diseases, disorders, and pests commonly associated with growing chile peppers.

© 2007 Patricia A. Michaels.