Can you let us know how much (or little you've been watering), plus your other general garden conditions (e.g. are they getting enough sunlight, is the soil draining well, etc).

Some of my pepper seedlings wilted and the leaves got crispy because I missed a day of watering - but I planted them in the ground and have kept them watered properly, and they have come back with new leaves.

This is exactly what's been happening to me, as a matter of fact I just posted a question about it last weekend. The leaves are curled and the growth seems to have stopped. I don't understand, as peppers have always been good growers in the past for me. At people's advice, I tried letting them go a bit longer between waterings. Too soon to tell if its made a difference yet. I'd love to know what's happening to them!

I water the garden sparaticly. It all depends on what the weather was like that particular day. If it's been real hot like high 90's, I will water more (using more water than usual) if its been in the 70's I will only water in the morning.

I hand water all of the garden area because some plants need more water than others. This is a 2 hour job for me every morning and another 2 hours in the evening... Unless it rains. I also use this time to tie up vines and prune areas. It's not a direct 2 hours of water. I keep the soil moist, not soaked.

I have several separate areas that I use as garden area on my property. The garden soil is all different in each area. That's why it is so perplexing to me.

I have an area where I have 8 plants, (all different varieties, hot, sweet & green) 2 of these plants are petrified and the rest of the plants are fine. Then I have another area 30 feet away where 1 of the plants is petrified and the others are fine.

Are these plants shot or has anyone ever had them revive from this state?

Did you check the plants for insects? I read on other threads that spider mites (which are really teeny tiny and red, and make little white webs on the back of the leaves) or aphids (which blend in very well on your plants) can cause this. If you can get rid of the bugs they should come back.

Another thread said that Roundup drift could cause this affect. I'm not sure if plants can come back from this.

Yet another said that magnesium deficiency might cause leaf curl. If you search on this site for "Epsom Salts" you will find watering instructions - those add magnesium to the soil and help the plants.

I've had this issue, too.

Growing pimentos a few years ago i had a plant that grew, even set some fruit, then just went into a freeze. The leaves and stems compacted their growth. Blossoms set wtihout fruiting and the 2 fruits on the plant didn't get much bigger.

The leaves were also curled up a bit, but no sign on fungus on the underside of leaves or bugs inside the rolls of the leaves.

I think i may have crowded it a bit, but the plants on either side of it in all directions were doing well. Still nothing I can say "that did it.", though.

I've just about had it with my peppers. I planted the seeds in March, and this pepper plant is typical of what mine look like. The topmost leaves are crinkly and curly.

{{gwi:98051}}

i had the same thing happen to one of my jalapeno pepper plants and i blamed it on my greenhouse. i had left it in the green house because i didn't have room for it in the garden, so it remained in a pot in the greenhouse, where it is well ventilated, but the temp gets betweeen 100-110 degrees on a good day. i think i cooked it. the leaves are still a vibrant beautiful green, but the top most leaves are petrified and crispy curly as you said. i have since taken it out and put it in the garden but have noted no change. im not too worried about it because it was just an extra to me. i guess mine was a combination of not enough water and drastically hot temperatures, although it did have a bad case of aphids early on which i quickly took care of (i really don't think that impacted it because the plant remained in good health for many weeks after this infestation). good luck with yours. sarah

Hello, I'm growing a variety of peppers, sweet and hot. All have done fairly well except the green bell sweets.. They were huge and very productive last year with basically the same amendments.. The location is different. The trouble is that the leaves are dropping. These are normal healthy leaves just dropping daily.. I've looked for cut-worms etc.
and dont see any bugs.. this happens overnight.. could slugs make this happen? There are some slugs but I set out a yeast plate to minimize their appetite. any suggestions for leaf drop.?