Aphids on pepper
The peach-potato aphid and the glasshouse potato aphid colonise pepper shoot tips and leaf undersides. Besides sucking sap and fouling plants with honeydew they transmit viruses, among them cucumber mosaic virus and potato virus Y.
Symptom photos
Symptoms
- Colonies of green, yellow or dark red aphids on leaf undersides
- The youngest leaves curling and puckering
- Sticky honeydew on leaves and fruit
- Black sooty mold growing on the honeydew
- Flowers and fruitlets dropping, and shoot tips ceasing to grow
What it does to the crop
- Young leaves and shoots deformed
- Fruit fouled with honeydew and sooty mold, and unmarketable
- Transmission of viruses that cannot then be cured
- Weakened plants and a smaller crop
What encourages it
- Warm weather and growing under cover
- Too much nitrogen and lush, soft growth
- No beneficial insects in the tunnel
- Weeds and ornamentals around the crop
Prevention
- Check shoot tips and leaf undersides once a week
- Use yellow sticky traps for monitoring
- Introduce ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies
- Keep nitrogen feeding moderate
- Clear weeds inside and around the tunnel
⚠️ Before you reach for a spray
This atlas is informational and still growing — different diseases can look almost identical. Confirm the diagnosis and read the product label before applying any plant protection product. If you are unsure, ask your local extension or advisory service.
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