I'm trying very hard to be completely chemical free in the garden this year. I read an article at a website that you can use Pepper Vinegar to spray on your plants - this will keep the bugs away. Unfortunately there wasn't a recipe. So, I got out the vinegar (distilled white since I figured Apple Cider was too tasty and might actually attract the bugs....) - poured in about half a cup of crushed red pepper - boiled and steeped it like tea. Next day I marched out to the garden and sprayed most of it with this new natural insect repellent. By 3pm my garden looked like a blight hit. Most of the leaves on all the plants were burned and gnarley looking. I wanted to cry.

I think they might bounce back, but I know I'll never get the yield I would have. That's okay though - I'm doing this for pleasure not for # of produce per square foot :)

Hard lesson learned though.

That stinks! I have only tried the vinegaronly solution on weeds. and it really seems to work on some of them.
Ive used a red peppers spray that is sold in a bottle at the nursery/home depot. I dont know if it was very effective though.
Maybe I will try again this year.

Ouch!

Did you use pure vinegar? It would be way too acidic and burn your plants. I think you'd need to dilute it quite a bit...

Let's hope they bounce back! :)

I use cheap white vinegar as a weed killer in some areas of my brick walkway, so I can imagine that it did a number on your plants. :(