"Adults emerge in mid- to late July and actively lay eggs in pepper fruit for several weeks. Eggs hatch into maggots, which tunnel into the fruit, and then exit at the blossom end when they are ready to pupate. Pepper maggot pupates in the soil and overwinters as a pupae before emerging the following spring as an adult."
https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/pepper-maggot

How fast do the nematodes work? Under optimum conditions, a nematode can kill an insect in 24-48 hours.


A good compromise is to expose soil for three or four weeks over the coldest time of the year before covering it back over with mulch.

https://www.growveg.com/guides/how-to-flush-out-garden-pests-in-winter/


The Nematodes are effective against grubs and the larval or grub stage of Japanese Beetles, Northern Masked Chafer, European Chafer, Rose Chafer, Fly larvae, Oriental Beetles, June Beetles, Flea beetles, Bill-bugs, Cut-worms, Army worms, Black Vine Weevils, Strawberry Root Weevils, Fungus Gnats, Sciarid larvae, Sod Web ...



Additionally, if you apply at high enough levels you can often get away with just one application per season rather than needing to reapply once some of the nematodes die off (depending on a number of factors including temperature, pest population and soil conditions).Mar. 28, 2017