Gardening: Ornamental Chili
I still remember how happy I was when I first set my eyes on this plant at The Fresh Market. I've always wanted to have an endless supply of chili (since it's a staple in my daily homecooked meals) and I knew I had to buy it right away. I've only seen it sold in Chinatown back in NYC but never thought I would be able to find it here too.
This picture was taken the first day I brought it home on my bicycle about a month ago.
I harvested it twice before Hurricane Irma hit and it survived in my bathroom for a few days with the lights on. This picture was taken the day after the hurricane. Still beautiful as ever. Little did I know that I would soon fuck it up.
I found these on the leaves yesterday and freaked out. I did some googling and came to a conclusion that it was mildew after stumbling on this article. I mixed baking soda with water and sprayed it on the leaves and poured some on the soil.
I also cut out a branch with flowers on it because it was heavily infested with those white shit. I kid you not, it was hard falling asleep yesterday night thinking of what I did to my plant.
This morning, I posted a picture of my plant on one of the FB groups that I'm in asking for help and was told that it's whiteflies eggs. I was advised to spray the eggs with Dawn soap and water to wash it off. Also, to consistently spray the leaves with neem oil (I purchased a Dyna Gro Pure Neem Oil 8oz for $11.68 on eBay) to prevent the flies from laying eggs. Another advise that was given is if Dawn soap doesn't work, I would need to do a soil drench.
It rained all day today and I left the plant out under the rain in hopes that it would wash away the eggs. I don't really know the logic behind that. All I know is that the last picture below is how it looked like at the end of the day. Most of the leaves fell out and my once healthy plant looks very sad. Maybe placing it under the rain helped as I don't see any eggs on the leaves anymore but it may also be because most of the leaves fell off.
I'll check the plant again and re-pot it with new soil tomorrow morning. I really hope it doesn't die on me.
This picture was taken the first day I brought it home on my bicycle about a month ago.
I harvested it twice before Hurricane Irma hit and it survived in my bathroom for a few days with the lights on. This picture was taken the day after the hurricane. Still beautiful as ever. Little did I know that I would soon fuck it up.
I found these on the leaves yesterday and freaked out. I did some googling and came to a conclusion that it was mildew after stumbling on this article. I mixed baking soda with water and sprayed it on the leaves and poured some on the soil.
I also cut out a branch with flowers on it because it was heavily infested with those white shit. I kid you not, it was hard falling asleep yesterday night thinking of what I did to my plant.
This morning, I posted a picture of my plant on one of the FB groups that I'm in asking for help and was told that it's whiteflies eggs. I was advised to spray the eggs with Dawn soap and water to wash it off. Also, to consistently spray the leaves with neem oil (I purchased a Dyna Gro Pure Neem Oil 8oz for $11.68 on eBay) to prevent the flies from laying eggs. Another advise that was given is if Dawn soap doesn't work, I would need to do a soil drench.
It rained all day today and I left the plant out under the rain in hopes that it would wash away the eggs. I don't really know the logic behind that. All I know is that the last picture below is how it looked like at the end of the day. Most of the leaves fell out and my once healthy plant looks very sad. Maybe placing it under the rain helped as I don't see any eggs on the leaves anymore but it may also be because most of the leaves fell off.
I'll check the plant again and re-pot it with new soil tomorrow morning. I really hope it doesn't die on me.
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