Help! I may have killed my peppers

Carolee on 6/4/2010, 1:10 pm

I'm new at SFG and just put in my garden last week. Despite doing everything the book said and preparing Mel's Mix as stated, I had LOTS of ants in my garden (don't know whre they came from). So on some forum I read that you could mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part warm water and spray where the ants were or the ant hills. I didn't have a sprayer so I poured some of the mixture on the ant hills (which happen to be around my green peppers). I just did this yesterday afternoon and it rained all night. When I went out to the garden to check on things today, all of my pepper plants look like they have wilted or fallen over. Did I just kill my plants or do you think they will rebound?

Is there any help for this newbie?

Wyldflower on 6/4/2010, 1:28 pm

Vinegar is an herbicide, and you may have hurt your peppers. I hope they come back but no guarantee. I would suggest watering them with a mild baking soda solution (maybe a couple of tablespoons in a gallon of water). The alkaline in the baking soda will counterbalance the acid in the vinegar. I hope your plants are not so far gone that they can't revive. Vinegar is a weed killer and I haven't heard it used to combat ants. (I may have missed some info here, though)

To combat ants, some of us sprinkle cornmeal and others swear by cinnamon... the ants eat that, can't digest it and die.

Help! I may have killed my peppers

Help! I may have killed my peppers

Re: Help! I may have killed my peppers