TGD32123 woah not looking good, feel bad for you. Crinkled leaves, I used Epsom salt when I had some leaves like that. But could be aphid damage your case.

Leaf curling, Maybe due to saturating, when do you spray am or pm?

Transparent leaves possibly sawfly larvae but I figure the soap may kill them, have you seen any increase in the transparent spots?

Brown/black spotting looks like leftover aphid damage, the excreted mess they leave behind that the ants like. If it continues to get worse may have to look at other factors.

Leaf drop were they healthy green leaves that just fell off out of no where? Or did they look troubled for awhile then fall off all together?

Hope this helps, also alot of other great people here to comment on your issues. Hope your plants pull through.

habjolokia - how do you apply the Epsom salt? I have heard of using it, but have not done so. What are the benefits to the plants?

Thanks.

Hi Sworegonjim the benefit is Magnesium Sulfate. I use 2 table spoons to one gallon container and let it dissolve as well as let the water sit for chlorine to evaporate, then I water my plants. I don't do this often when my plants are super healthy maybe once a few months unless my plants really need a boost in health.

habjolokia, thanks for getting back to me.

I usually water in the late afternoon. The major leaf drop seemed to happen to healthy leaves. I also had the stem of a salvia flower fall off at the same time, looked like it was broken off by a person because the rest of the plant seems so healthy. The plants are on a 4th floor balcony so I don't think any person or animals would have done this, except possibly a small bird.

Is it harmful to increase my use in insecticidal soap to nearly every day? I don't see many insects anymore except an aphid or two on each plant, but something is doing damage. I did see a couple of leaves out of 13 plants that looked like they were chewed up by insects for the first time yesterday... I just don't see the insects that could be doing this. Some small white spots about the size of the clear spot pictured have shown up on some plants over the last day or two. These plants have been outside since early April. They had transplant shock (wilting) at first but got over it, and they looked healthy until the last couple of weeks, despite the aphid problem peaking in early May.

I have Epsom salts, as well a bone meal/probiotic/fertilizer mix I could use if you recommend it. I was holding off on using those in case the problem was too much fertilizer.

TGD32123, since you have a lot of different things going on, maybe best for you to get back to the basic, at least for a week or two. Since it seems you are rid of the bugs if only one or two aphids are left smash them by hand dont leave them to multiply. Stop the soap treatment, hold off the ferts, just keep them hydrated with water. Monitor their progress over the week, I think this would be best. Use your best judgement this is only my suggestion and what I would do with my plants. Hope they bounce back strong and give you a good crop.

TGD how tall are these pepper plants now? The reason I'm asking is that they may have outgrown their 4 gallon containers which may require a different maintenance schedule or repotting of course.

Rudy

Kosherbaker, the two plants with the biggest problems are about 18 inches tall. The plant 99% of aphids seem to prefer is the habanero plant, which seems is about 10 inches tall.

I will preface this by saying that this is my first year growing peppers.

Your first pic with the curled leaves looks exactly like my peppers that had aphids on them earlier in the season. In my case it was the Cajun Belles. Even after eradicating the aphids the old leaves ended up looking like those down the road. New growth came out normal.

I can't speak to the curling or transparent windows (though I will say it looks like too big a window for sawfly larvae based on the damage they did to my roses?).

The last pic looks to me like phytotoxicity from sprays. You said you are using insect soap twice a week. Is it a potassium salts of fatty acids soap? Most insect soaps require you to thoroughly wash the leaves between applications - are you doing that? I will also note that the brand of insect soap I have says not to use it more than 3 times a season.

Initially I didn't have great luck with lacewing eggs to fight aphids - but after a 2nd release of lacewings and a rise in temperatures (I don't know which helped more) the aphids are gone and I haven't had to spray again.