Software
Houzz Logo Print
leahsurfer

pepper leaves

14 years ago

Hello all, i did a quick search that yielded no results on this topic, so here we go..

I started my pepper in early Feb. under lights inside. All was fine until i moved them outside to harden them off.

They get a few hours of full sun now, although I have already transplanted about 5 of them.

They all have this problem: the leaves are shorter and rounder than I have ever seen! They are all varieties I have tried before, so I know it's not an issue with the variety. Other than that, the plants look fine, maybe shorter than normal but it's still to early to really tell. but they are a healthy shade of green, and I have done this for about 5 years now so I'm pretty sure I have the watering down and I am careful to ensure favorable moisture conditions. The leaves are so round that I have mistaken them for the eggplant transplants a few times!

I started them in a bagged seed starter mix and have watered with diluted seaweed 2 or 3 times since early February.

Also, my eggplants which are under a very similar condition, have leaf curl (i think that's what it is when the leaves curl up but everything else appears normal) but as I understand it, it is a temporary condition and will probably phase out as soon as they get adapted to their new home.

Any thoughts on the pepper leaves?

Comments (21)

  • 14 years ago

    Any chance of posting a picture?

  • 14 years ago

    Yes, pictures would help. Any chance you mixed up your seed?
    Bruce

  • 14 years ago

    The syntax is "less than symbol" followed by the tags "img" space "src=" and url. close it off with a "greater than symbol"

    The above being said, I'm not sure what the problem is.

  • 14 years ago

    Ok. Looks like i was trusting photobucket to post it for me. Sorry, I never usually post photos on here.

    Just to clarify - Are you saying you are unsure of the problem after seeing the photos? Do you see what I mean with the odd shape?

  • 14 years ago

    Sorry, just saw photobucket. For some reason, photobucket burps at posting here?

    Here ya go, I copied your pics to Flickr...

    Based on the 2nd shot, could you have some pest issue? Spots on the leaf look like something might be sucking nutes out of them???

  • 14 years ago

    It does look like that on this one, but keep in mind there are probably 9 or 10 other transplants that look like that first one, from different pepper varieties. I have been checking them for bugs daily but haven't found anything. All of the new leaves have been coming in with this round shape too.

  • 14 years ago

    OK, no sign of bugs, that's good.

    Here's a WASITD (wild a$$ shot in the dark).

    What are you feeding the plants and if anything, how strong and how often? I ask because I've experienced similar leaf damage on a pepper relative. Here's a shot of a tomatillo leaf with the same spotting.

    It's called marginal necrosis. It can be caused by numerous reasons but most commonly micro nutrient deficiency.

  • 14 years ago

    leasurfer: Photobucket is east for posting picks on here. Just upload the pics, then when in the album, move your mouse over the photo and you will get a drop down menu with different image codes, click on the HTML code for that photo and it will put the code in your clipboard. Come back to this forum, put your mouse where you want the photo to appear and hit V on your keyboard and it will paste in the code to display the picture.
    Bruce

  • 14 years ago

    I meant to say "hit -V" on your keyboard to paste the code into your posting.

    Bruce

  • 14 years ago

    hmmmm something fishy is going on here. hit CONTROL-V on your keyboard.

    For some reason, it is nuking it when it is inside of right and left arrow brackets.
    Bruce

  • 14 years ago

    Hey Ottawa (or anyone else) would you take a look at some leaves for me (I already posted them on gardenweb) -
    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pests/msg0211290214592.html?2
    I took them to the mastergardener in tulsa... idiots. they said they were spider mites, I don't have spider mites, they saw the specks of dirt on the leaves and were convinced they were bugs, bugs without legs, and bugs that didn't move at all... oh well, I've essentially given up on figuring out what's going on with these plants. But, I'd love to hear what you might have to say.
    Pam

  • 14 years ago

    Clear case of teenage zits. Some ProActive will fix it.

    Just kidding. Hmmmm, I haven't seen anything like that before but it doesn't look real good. I won't even guess if that is a pest problem, a nutrient problem or some kind of mold or other ailment. I hope you find out. If not, plants sometimes just simply grow out of problems like that.
    Bruce

  • 14 years ago

    Hi Kuvaszlvr, to me looks like flea beetle damage. Google images type in flea beetle damage. I seen them last year on my peppers, very quick little buggers, seem to jump at a shadow passing by, always hard to identify they munch and run. I think I annoyed them so much daily inspecting my plants that they moved on to neighbors lol

  • 14 years ago

    Bruce... you're pushing it, you're already in the doghouse over bragging over $15 fafard. ;-)

    I'll check it out habjolokia. Only thing is, the first symptoms are raised yellow bumps, that doesn't seem like bug damage. I kept thinking it might be septoria, but it doesn't look like any of the photos. Also, as the spots get older the inside turns brown and falls out, on some.

    so far they aren't growing out of it, they look horrible. I was wondering, could there have been something in the pine fines? I mixed them in with my soil. Also, it's the same soil I used for the peppers... the peppers are all looking fine and healthy. This is driving me insane.

  • 14 years ago

    Kuvaszlvr also I posted to your other post but wanted to add additional info would not let me post follow up so posting here sorry.

    Check out the link and leaf damage look similar?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Eriophyid Mites

  • 14 years ago

    hmmmm, thanks habjalokia... the one on the left doesn't look like it at all, but the photo on the right looks closer to my damage than any other picture I've found. Never heard of the buggers. I'll do some more searching on them. I'll check out your post on the other forum too.

  • 14 years ago

    Hard to tell, but could be late stages of edema. Edema starts out as bumps and some curling up, but bursting cells turn to corky cells over time which might be what the brown spots are. Usually caused by warm roots and cool humid air causing more uptake of water then the leaves can use causing cells to burst and die. Often caused by overwatering. This is a very common issue that for some reason is not discussed much in troubleshooting guides. Took me a long time to find out what it was when I experienced it. No bugs, no fungus, good pH and nutrient practices. It happens in my case when the weather outside is mild causing house humidity to rise up past 60% due to lack of heating or air conditioning running in the house.

  • 14 years ago

    I should mention that plants with edema usually recover quite well once the water/humidity issue is corrected. It's disconcerting though for growers when they get something like this and can't find any information that matches.

  • 14 years ago

    kuvaszlvr, I'll defer to others, I've not seen anything like what you're experiencing.

    leahsurfer, my previous reply was just a shot in the dark but the more I think about it, if all your peppers are experiencing the same issue and you're using the same seed stock as previous years what's changed?

    Have you changed your feeding regiment; potting medium; or anything else?

Sponsored
Landscape Management Group
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars33 Reviews
High Quality Landscaping Services in Columbus