So many moons ago I grew two plants from a dispensary and they were just covered in spider mites. I was hesitant on returning to a dispensary for clones but heard great things about this dispensary. Decided to grab a clone and gave it a spraying of the hot sauce solution. It clearly did not like that and has been slowly trugging along since.
I am hoping to find a reputable source for clones in CO. If you are from here and have recs on good clones, would love to know!
Hot sauce doesnât kill bugs. Capsaicin is really a mammal-specific deterrent.
Apparently it does kill plants, though lol. Probably the salt and vinegar.
Kind Love in SE Denver has good clones, I used to live over by there.
You can get clones from anywhere you want if you pre-treat them with pesticides before they hit your grow area. I used to use Craigslist for clones.
Acetic acid (vinigar) is a herbicideâŚ
Good on fries, bad on plants.
Yes, daily is fine as long as they donât stay too moist. I think less is more on the foliar applications. I would also make sure to remove any dead foliage as it can harbor molds and whatnot.
And yet, hot peppers and hot pepper extracts wonât even get rid of fungus gnats. Let alone anything serious.
Been there, tried that.
Capsaicin is not part of my ipm program. However, many people would disagree with you including universities and the National Pesticide Information Center. It is a pesticide, and it has shown efficacy in trials.
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/capsaicin.html
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/capgen.html
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/organic-pepper-spray-insects-78401.html
âItâs really effectiveâ and at the same time âI donât use itâ.
Anything to disagree with olâ pesticide-using vernal.
Dude literally almost killed his plant spraying hot sauce. I have literally personally used hot pepper extract on an infested plant and it got worse and worse. There are more effective options.
Technically, capsaicin doesnât kill insects unless you beat them over the head with hot peppers, or drown them in hot sauce, but it does repel them. If you keep the plants treated regularly, it probably acts as a decent deterrent, too.
However, if you factor in the extremely low pH of white vinegar, which is a primary ingredient in most hot sauces, there is no doubt that youâre possibly putting your plants at some risk of some harm - especially young plants, clones and seedlings. I mean, with a pH of around 2.5, straight vinegar is extremely toxic, but letâs say itâs 3.5 to 4 with the other ingredients that hot sauce typically contains - thatâs still too toxic for young, vulnerable plants.
Show me where I said it was really effective? Or where I said you should spray hot sauce on your plants? I said capsaicin is considered a pesticide and it has been shown to have efficacy. Iâm sure there are better options, but to say it is not a pesticide is false.
Again, I never said to use hot sauce on your plants. Iâm simply stating capsaicin can be used as a pesticide. There are plenty of studies about this.
Sorry for the confusion, @PlantShepherd. I suppose I should have quoted you in my previous reply so youâd know what I was specifically addressing regarding your defense of capsaicin. I promise to do better!
I donât quite understand what you are saying here? Are you saying that Capsiacin doesnât kill bugs?
From the NPIC
Capsaicin is a natural chemical isolated from red peppers. It is most often found in animal repellents but some products kill mites and insects or keep them from feeding on plants.
From the âGarden Guides / Capsaisin as an Insecticideâ link you provided above:
Capsaicin is primarily used as a fast-acting strong irritant used to repel animals and birds, not as an insecticide.
Capsaicin is considered an environmentally sound way to avoid the contamination of food and drinking water by the residue of synthetic agrochemicals. Capsaicin is applied to plant foliage to repel insect pests, not kill them. It will also repel bees and other insects needed for pollination and other purposes.
GotchaâŚ
The EPA has approved capsaicin as a biochemical pesticide used to repel and kill insects. Capsaicin is the compound in hot peppers that give it the âhotâ taste that is enjoyed by many humans. Capsaicin, however, repels all other mammals and kills insects by causing membrane damage and metabolic disruption. It also affects the nervous system of invertebrates. Most insects are repelled by pepper spray and will avoid treated plants. (See References 2)
I sprayed capsaicin extract on infested plants, and drenched the media. Gnats and mites. Nothing. Bugs got worse.
If it worked that well, everyone would use it. But, they donât. And they probably wonât since itâs ineffective, at least on gnats and mites.
If itâs a pesticide, itâs a really shitty one. But the bar for effective is pretty low for organics lol.
The only thing to laugh about is your knowledge of organics. 
Eh spray some LABs on it, touch of FPJ, maybe get the chakras re-aligned, sage smudge to cleanse the vibes. Make sure itâs during a waning moon with positive intentions otherwise it all comes crashing down.
Yet, itâs not very effective at controlling grow room pests, which is why itâs not the overwhelming choice of most growers, in spite of the fact that a capsaicin-based product can be 100% organic.
This thread is clearly turning into something unintended. The bottom line is that @gonzostongue likely learned a lesson and will be using hot sauce again to treat new clones from his local dispensary. For his sake, I just hope his plant rebounds and become a vigorous, healthy monster on fire.
I donât use capsiacin so I canât say how effective it is as a stand alone pesticide. However, I would generally agree if it was the bees knees, more people would use it.
I agree.