Companion Planting // 16 Companion Plants for Peppers!

hey guys last week we talked about the major pests for tomatoes and what companion plants can help with those it was a very popular video maybe just because of the hairy vetch if you have no idea what i'm talking about i can't do it again so just watch last week's video i'll link it down below this week we're going to do the same thing except for peppers chili's capsicums whatever you call them i've got the solution coming up [Music] hey i'm brian with next level gardening and if you're looking to join an online garden community that offers tips tricks and support to help take your gardening to the next level you're in the right place get started now by clicking subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss anything now let's get growing in today's video i'm going to talk you through 16 companion plants to plant with your peppers to help with pests and disease and there might even be one or two that actually help fertilize your peppers as well as i said last week i'm not interested in doing a video about old wives tales or mumbo jumbo this video is going to be sharing evidence-based strategies only so let's start off with one of the pests that bother my peppers the most along with many other plants and that is aphids aphids are tiny soft-bodied little jerks that come in a wide variety of colors but they're also kind of wimpy because they can just be sprayed off with a hard stream of water from the hose and they usually drown and that is if you're vigilant if not they can cause a lot of damage they're actually the vampires of the plant world literally sucking the blood or sap from plants and their damage is usually manifested in curling leaves especially on new growth that's where you're going to find them concentrated aphids produce a sticky substance known as honeydew that actually attracts ants and they're even more annoying there is a plant group that actually produces a scent so strong that aphids steer clear of it and that would be the allium family onions but you have to find the right type that's going to be growing at the same time as your peppers and for the same length of time so onions wouldn't quite work because you harvest them well before the peppers are done producing in most climates same with garlic so two good choices would be green onions or spring onions salad onions bunching onions whatever you want to call them and chives plant them around your peppers you know in amongst the peppers and that is going to produce a steer clear of me scent that the aphids will hate wait they really are vampires garlic and if that doesn't work i bet you can drive a tiny little splinter through their heart okay that might be hard but there is a bug that can do that exact same thing a minut pirate bug actually has a beak shaped like a wooden stake and they do that exact thing two aphids they stab them with that beak and devour them now to attract minute pirate bugs to your garden you want to include first of all a lot of humble flowers humble flowers are an inflorescence with hundreds if not thousands of tiny little flowers they're all shaped like an umbrella so members of the carrot family plants like cosmos xenias and yarrow work well sunflowers also attract minut pirate bugs and so does spearmint now a word of warning on any of the mint family you definitely don't want to plant them in the ground you want them in pots ask anyone who's put them in the ground you'll never get rid of them they are highly invasive of course no talk of aphids could be complete without mentioning the humble ladybug who in adult and larval stage can eat thousands of aphids in their very short lifespan now the humble flowers that we've talked about before those will all attract ladybugs as well as herbs like thyme and oregano another pest that likes my peppers at least and let me know down below in the comments if any of these pests you've seen on your peppers or if i've missed some but that would be the leaf miner now leaf miners are the small larva of many species of fly and moth and they actually the eggs are laid between the upper and lower surface of the leaf so right in between there and they tunnel through that section never piercing the top or bottom layer of the leaf but right in between and you're not going to see the actual larva but you're going to see their tracks it looks like these squiggly little lines all over the leaf they're actually really difficult to control with spray because again the top and the bottom layers of the leaf are protecting them kind of smart however there is one insect that has outsmarted them the parasitic wasp the parasitic wasp can find them inside the leaf stab right through right into them there's a lot of stabbing going on they can lay their eggs right inside that tiny little larva and when those eggs hatch they eat that larva from the inside out and again humble flowers to the rescue they attract the parasitic wasp in addition to the ones we've already mentioned you can use dill flowering carrot and alyssum another pepper pest is the teeny tiny white fly you might only know you have them if you brush against a plant and a little white swarm of them kind of flutters into a cloud in the air around you if you check under the leaves you might see a little white fingerprint that is actually their eggs it's just the start of what can possibly happen if left unchecked and in a severe infestation the leaves can actually grow white beard looking growths hanging from each and every leaf it's super unsightly in addition they're also sap suckers and they're going to turn your leaves yellow the plant will start losing leaves and can die if there's enough of them so what insect can take care of white fly well how about an insect with an equally lame and descriptive name as white fly bring in the big eyed bugs yup that's their name what three year old is in charge of naming insects big-eyed bugs like diversity so all of the things we've already mentioned planted around your peppers are going to definitely attract them they also like to hide in bushier type plants so adding a cover crop of crimson clover around your peppers will give them lots of places to hide a great thing about crimson clover is it is a nitrogen fixer it is part of the legume family and so it adds nitrogen to the soil that heavy feeders like peppers can take advantage of another predator of white fly are damsel bugs now a lot of people asked last week on the video about marigolds and i didn't include it because i did include it in last year's tomato companion planting video and so i just wanted to switch things up a little bit marigolds are pretty much the gold standard for companion planting everyone kind of knows about those but they actually do attract damsel bugs and so does shrubbery so if you have a perennial border or a shrub border near your vegetable garden that's going to attract all kinds of damsel bugs and they also like lavender and thyme so honestly an herb garden next to your vegetable garden works wonders in many ways as we've seen they're talking about all these different pests and i think the bottom line is you know in companion planting one of the major things you can do is create diversity in your garden you know forget mono cropping you know huge beds or rows of the same thing it just doesn't work without pesticides and i don't know about you but i don't want to have to use those even organic ones they're a pain and you know if not used correctly they can hurt beneficials so fortunately pepper plants don't have as many pests as a lot of other vegetables that we grow but if i have forgotten something or you know of something extra please put that in the comments down below if you learned something from this video please give me a thumbs up it does help the video to get pushed out to a wider audience so i would appreciate it and hopefully that wider audience would appreciate it as well so tomorrow is easter and we're going to be talking about two giveaways so you definitely want to come back for that otherwise have a great saturday and i'll see you tomorrow

Channel: Next Level Gardening

Views: 211,902

Keywords: companion, patio, container, garden, gardening, natural pest deterent, control, pest control, better flavor, flavor enhancing, companion planting, marigold, marigolds, onions, garlic, organic gardening, raised bed garden, growing peppers in containers, how to grow peppers at home, growing chilies, planting peppers, capsicum, how to grow peppers from seed, grow peppers, capsicum growing, how to plant peppers, chilies, pepper plant, organic, what to grow with peppers, california garden tv

Id: HNqn8htgBbI

Length: 9min 36sec (576 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 03 2021