2nd pic

Still blurry(lol) but worsened condition. Right before leaf drop.

3rd pic

Even blurrier but this is what I'm left with-- A s*itload of leaf loss!

C'mon guys! Help me.

Nutrient?
Virus?
Nematodes?
Or just plain end of the line for the season? I know it's cold where a lot of you are located, but it's still warm here. We just had a week of mid 90's! So, these guys should still be thriving.

:(

Kevin

Forgot to attach the 3rd pic.

Is this affecting all leaves on the plant? Just lower level mature leaves? How is the plant doing otherwise? Do all your plants show this problem or just one?

Bruce

could be spider mites

Bruce:

It's intermittent. It doesn't affect the Jalapenos and Serranos as much as the Bells and Anaheims. The 1st pic is of the Guajillos, but those are in organic containers and were later in the season plantings. So, with the Jalapenos and Serranos, they just keep trucking along, but it's gotten so bad for the Bells and Anaheims that fruit production has definitely slowed down and I've had to shade them because of sunscald to the few fruit that are present because there isn't enough foliage to shade the fruit.

My nuclear, thai, and another guajillo(containers in a 5-1-1) and in the FRONT driveway aren't exhibiting thiscondition but I'm not happy with the nuclear or the guajillo -- the nuke has leaf curl and very minor leaf loss, but the amount of pods harvested has been disappointing(tons of blossoms throughout season, mild blossom drop, but just very unproductive for pods(maybe 15 throughout season with a few more on plant at present. And the Guajillo has stunted fruit.

Don't get me wrong. I've had some great harvests so far -- I would just like to have more. It's nice to garden here in SoCal, but it gets expensive for the warm weather crops. Water's expensive and it never rains. So, I like to get the most bang for my buck.

Kevin

Spider mites, eh? Well, I've used sulfur spray, neem oil, and homemade insecticidal soap(Ivory) throughout the season. Any other organic remedies??

Kevin

Possible that its fungal. Couldn't hurt to give it a spray of a copper solution since you've already hit it with everything else to no avail.

With spider mites you'd notice the webs, fine as they are.

I have mature leaf drop too, but the total yellow crispy appearance of the 3rd pic bothers me. That says lots of cell wall disruption. So without any particular expertise, I'd tend to agree that it's fungal.

How the humidity down there? I though SD was pretty dry, but you are on the ocean.

I'm about 20 miles inland, but around August(for the last 20 years or so) we get some monsoonal storms that come up through Mexico and into AZ and NM. So, the humidity and the heat can sometimes be a tad brutal. It's not nearly as bad along the coast where the temps are much more mild. It tapers off in October, when the humidity becomes desert-like.

So, so far that's 1.5 fungus and .5 spider mites. Anybody else want to weigh in?

Edymnion, are copper-based fungicides ORGANIC like my sulfur dust/spray?

Thanks

Kevin

It depends on your definition of "organic".

Copper Sulfate is approved for use in the legal definition of organic growing, but given the widely varying personal definitions of what individual people consider to be "organic" or not... I don't even try to keep up with that stuff anymore.

That looks and sounds like bacterial spot to me, but don't put yourself in harms way by spraying a bunch of crazy toxins on your plants. The only thing that's going to stop the spread (maybe stop it, probably not) are nasty and toxic like maneb. Seriously, if you don't treat for this stuff preemptively with less toxic approaches (like copper, which won't do sh*t after the bacteria has set in), fighting them after the fact is moot - unless you don't mind the prospect of spraying understudied, potential carcinogens on something that you plan to eat. If you determine that it is bacterial, just save yourself the frustration and yank it all, and yank it soon - including the dropped leaves - because the bacteria can live on, and spread from, infected debris until is fully decomposes.

PJ

Forget about the spider mites. the best conditions for spider mites are an extreme drought condition like here in San antonio, almost 2 months with no rain back in July-august. the solution for spider mites strong blasts of water on lower leaves and a daily misting to increase the humidity level; spider mites hate humidity. You sure are lucky to live there with narrow range of temperatures year round.

Daryll

Ok. So the general consensus so far is that it's most likely a unicellular organism that reproduces and eventually overtakes a host. Which is what I thought all along.

Let's talk about next season -- this happens every year, sometimes a little more than other years.

Question:

Seed-borne, soil-borne, or airborne?

If it's soil borne, solarization is ineffective sense my gardening areas are between my perimeter fence and brick retaining walls. So when plastic is lain, I think there's too much air circulation that the soil can't reach temps high enough to kill off microorganisms.

So, what else can be done?

Seed-borne -- any tricks at germination to prevent it?

Air-borne -- I realize nothing can really be done unless I build a biosphere. ;)

Edymnion: Let's say it's fungal. Would treating them earlier in the season with copper sulfate(before I even see it) help?

PJ: Let's say it's bacterial. Any preventative measures that can be taken to prevent this in the future? Organic remedies?

Thanks all.

Kevin

PJ:

"If you determine that it is bacterial, just save yourself the frustration and yank it all, and yank it soon - including the dropped leaves - because the bacteria can live on, and spread from, infected debris until is fully decomposes."

Should I also remove the mulch that said leaves may have contacted and NOY till it into the soil?

Kevin

I suppose it could, but if its fungal treating it now will help. It won't repair the damage that is already done, but it will stop more from occurring and give the plant time to regenerate new leaves.

Black spot on roses is fungus, and the palliative is to pick off the leaves that show it and clean up all leaf litter. It is contagious between leaves. No, you don't want to till it in.

[There are treatments, but my rose pursuit is to grow roses that don't need chemicals, or much besides water and pruning with a machete. Haven't had one die in a couple years - even two I've tried to kill. So I can't recommend one (treatments, that is - I do have a rose recommendation).]

Man, I wish I could offer some help...
but I've never dealt with these symptoms before.

Any chance it could be fertilizer burn?

Josh

Josh:

You just might be able to help. Is there anything you do to seeds prior to germinating that would help with any SEED-borne diseases. I've read somewhere about soaking in peroxide.

It just might be what others have mentioned. It may also be powdery mildew(according to UC IPM website). Furthermore, PM does attack my cucurbits pretty damn hard ever year around August when the humidity and heat rises.

No on the fert burn. Any fert(whether organic or synthetic) gets put into the soil.

At this point I just want to make a plan for the future.

Kevin

Here's a better pic of early stages of disease/affliction.

Kevin

That's a better pic? You need some light on the subject.

LOL.

Well, it's not as blurry.

Kevin,
This is a very thorough report regarding causes and control of leaf spot bacterium.
PJ

Here is a link that might be useful: Bacterial Leaf Spot

Thanks everybody for the replies. I usually don't worry about it and I'm still not going to THIS year, but it happens every year to SOME extent.

From here on out though, I'll take the info you've provided me and be more proactive about it and hopefully have even BETTER harvests Than I do already.

Kevin

I think something wrong with my chilli plants, the leaves are curly. Is it normal?

Some peppers have leaves like that. My Caribbean Reds have leaves like that.

Looks normal to me.