mini munchers

[Brixx]

Well I've got a nice 1 1/2' plant growing from seed and 2 little clones started up for a bit over a week now. Had 3 at the start and might be down to one soon with the way one's doing. Could have booted my friend in the head when I found out he stored the clones in a box for a day...

But my real problem is the little bastards that hitched a ride to my little operation. Some of the leaves on all the clones, and now on my seeder, are being munched in tiny bits by these little worms/cattapilars/???. And man are they little. Only about 2 mm in length if that, a pale milky white, and they appear to like sitting at the intersection of the 5 leaves when not actively eating the leaf. I'd take a picture but my digital camera sucks and they're way too small to spot easily normally, let alone in a fuzzy pic. The leaf damage is minor on the seedling but I'm pretty sure they're destroying one of my clones and they're indoor so no pred's to help me out. Not too many except on the one clone.

On a side note, some of the soil I had contained the same bug Mud_Hunter appeared to have though they've practically vanished once I started prepping the soil. Still see an odd straggler about, but nothing compared to the numbers I saw after I put my mixed soil in the pots. Maybe a larvae of these guys?

[rangerdanger]

There are a lot of decent insecticdes on the market.
Choose a non-toxic (to people) one, like pyrethium or neem oil based, or insecticidal soap.
You need to spray (lightly, both sides of the leaves) every other day, for 2 weeks, to break the life cycle.
A good preventitive once you've gotten rid of the current pests:
mash 2 or 3 jalepeno or habeno chilie's and 3 or 4 garlic cloves. Put them in a coffee maker where you usually put the coffee.
Run about 3 cups of water through.
While still hot, add 2 tbls. of Italian seasoning.
When cool, pour into a 2 qt. container and add water til it's full. Then add 4 drops of dishwashing liquid (not powder).
Use this to spray on your plants every week to prevent bugs from breeding.

Everytime you spray insecticide, go over the plant the next day with plain water (or better yet, carbonated water).
Do this about 30 min. before the light comes on, because water droplets can magnify high-intensity light and burn holes in the leaves.

P.S. You need to replace the chili-garlic mixture every month or so--it goes bad.