How Do I Identify Hungarian Yellow Pepper Plant Pests?

Look for caterpillars on the pepper plant leaves or adult moths near your plants. Plants could have black cutworm, fall armyworm, yellow armyworm, beet armyworm, tobacco hornworm or cabbage looper. These pests differ in color and marking; yellow armyworms are green and yellow striped, and black cutworms are black/ All, though, can be controlled with a worm spray and are large enough to see without trouble.

Turn over the leaves and check for clusters of tiny insects; these indicate an aphid problem and are among the more common pepper problems. Aphids also turn pepper leaves yellow. Use insecticidal soap to kill these. If you see insects that resemble spiders and have yellow leaves, your Hungarian yellow pepper likely has spider mites and not aphids. A miticide or insecticide will kill these.

Watch for leaves to curl up, which may indicate your Hungarian yellow pepper has thrips. There are many small bugs that could infect peppers, so identify these by the foliage curl. Thrips, which are tiny flying insects, also congregate en masse and suck out plant foliage. Use insecticidal soap against these critters.

Inspect the peppers themselves. Peppers with small holes likely have European corn borer, a cream-colored worm that tunnels inside developing fruit. Infected peppers are more likely to rot since the holes let water in. Insecticide containing pyrethrin can control these pests, but may leave plants vulnerable to aphid infestation.

Watch for beetles around your plant, which have wings and hard shells. Types of beetles that prey on peppers include the flea beetle, most often found in newly transplanted peppers and the margined blister beetle, a black and white beetle that eats plant leaves.

Watch for white blotches on the peppers themselves, which indicate a hemiptera problem. This class of bugs includes leafhoppers, stink bugs and tarnished plant bugs. They eat developing fruit, causing the white discoloration and fruit drop. Insecticide takes care of all these pests.