Bringing an almost dead pepper plant back to life

Last month, I had an infestation of aphids.  I had read something about mixing water with Dawn dish washing detergent to spray on the aphids.  Well, I didn't read how much Dawn you were supposed to add to the water.  

The result of adding too much Dawn?  All of my tomato buds fell off, but the tomato plant was OK.  The pepper plants suffered even more.  The luster and shine disappeared from the surface of the pepper leaves.  Then holes developed in the leaves and the leaves thinned down.  Two days later, my poor pepper plant no longer had leaves.  

I was about to throw in the towel and buy two new pepper plants to replace the ones I thought I killed, but then I saw new leaves budding where the old leaves had fallen off.  I talked to a Horticulturist who told me to give the plants a chance.  Now it has been a few weeks and it looks like the pepper plants are coming back to life.  We will be a few weeks behind on getting peppers from the plants, but that is OK.    

Lesson learned!  I now know that I should add one part Dawn to every 100 parts water.  The Horticulturist told me that if I am in doubt, buy the store bought aphid killer.  It is already pre-measured and will not kill the plant.  Another tip I received from the Horticulturist was to spray the aphids with water from the hose.  They will fall off from the pressure of the water.  You will need to check the leaves for aphids every couple of days though and repeat as necessary.

My tomato plant is doing wonderfully!  It has grown almost a foot since last month and it is covered in blooms.  I even noticed a few small tomatoes starting to grow out of those blooms!  I am so excited to have fresh, homegrown tomatoes and peppers soon!