Datil

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Whitefly

Whitefly

Aleyrodidae

A puff of white when you brush the leaf, and stickiness underneath.

, Thrips

Thrips

Thysanoptera

Silvery streaking with black specks — the specks are how you tell them from mites.

, Spider mites

Spider mites

Tetranychidae

Fine pale stippling in hot, dusty, dry weather. Visible webbing means you are already late.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

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Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

,

to keep them in check — plant nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Datil indoors about 12 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 21 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 60 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 100 days.

Keep track of the seeds you own.

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  Pruning Chili Plants: When It Helps, and When to Leave Them Alone

  Chilies don’t need pruning to crop — but three simple cuts, made for the right reason at the right time, can mean a bushier plant, more fruit, and cleaner ripening. Here’s when to reach for the scissors, and when to sit on your hands.

  Read the guide

Companion Planting

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  French Marigold
  

  French MarigoldGreat pair

  • ❧French Marigold attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Datil
  • ❧French Marigold suppresses pests that trouble Datil
  • ❧French Marigold acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Datil
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  Candytuft
  

  CandytuftGreat pair

  • ❧Candytuft attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Datil
  • ❧Datil draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Candytuft acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Datil
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  Clover
  

  CloverGreat pair

  • ❧Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil that Datil feeds on
  • ❧Datil draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Clover acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Datil

How to grow Datil

1. Sow12 weeks before frost
2. Germinates21 days
3. Space60 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~100 days

Water: Medium · Height: 90 cm · Soil: Rich, well-draining, warm (pH 5.5–6.8)