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How am I killing these plants?

Hinky

Hinky

This is making me sick to my stomach.

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The top plant is a 7 Pot, the bottom is an Aji Crystal. I know I know, you're right now saying 'uh- no it's not and no it's not.' Trust me, they are. They aren't the only plants that are looking this way though- out of about 20 chiles, I've got about 6 or 7 that are pulling this on me, and it seems that more are starting to do this. For the life of me I can not find a commonality- some plants are in the house, some are out in the greenhouse. Some are watered with wellwater, some are watered with wellwater that's been sitting with longrass in it in barrels. Some are in old groovy country dirt that's been microwaved, some are in brand new cactus potting soil. Hell, now I've even got a couple tomato plants that are pulling this shit on me.

I'm at a complete loss here. Any thoughts?
 
Does the water come out of the bottom of the pot look like an amber or beer color? If so, flush them out now! Several times, untill the water comes out clearish.

Then leave them be and do not water till the soil is dry, if that doesnt work you might want to make an emergency cutting to save the plant if you dont have any others of that type growing.
 
IDK what you are doing to kill them but i can say that you are doing a very good job of it! :)

Edit: Stab in the dark but someone mentioned lack of calcium for plants that looked similar to these.
 
I just stole this post from another thread C/O RichardK.

Leaf Curling or cupping is usualy a sign of Magnesium Deficiency, get some Epsom Salts (Uncolored unscented) from your local drug store in the bath section.

Disolve 1 Table Spoon into a gallon of water and spray the leaves either in the morning or at night, not during the day.

Spray the tops and bottoms, and only do this once every two to three weeks.
 
I have not used any nutrients in many moons- and nutes that I did use were also used on other plants at the same time and in the same volume, that are not exhibiting this nonsense- the 7 has a twin sitting next to it that looks pristine.
 
No nutes or more to the point no trace elements could be the problem here mate. I suggest buying an el cheapo bag of trace elements and appyling asap. Just because some plants are not exhibiting the same symptoms doesn't really matter because each plant uses different amounts of nutes/minerals to the best of my knowledge.

Give it a go, i hate to see a fellow grower suffer.
 
Hinky, have you or anyone near you applied any lawn ferts or weed killers? It looks to me like 2,4-D poisoning. It happened to me a few years back and my plants recovered from it because they were probably just misted slightly due to the wind. I topped all of my affected plants and all the new growth was problem free but I was told by a plant pathologist that all of the fruit would not be consumable although the seed and next years crop from the seeds would not be affected. Your plants look exactly like mine did and the pathologist from Michigan State university was right on the money with her diagnosis. If you need some more info feel free to PM me. Hope this helps.

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I'm with Thepodpiper. That's almost certainly some kind of herbicide damage. Twisty leaves all mis-shapen like that, definite signs of a broad-leaf weed killer. Could have been from overspray, or residue in a pot or fert sprayer. Dunno, but that's definitely not a deficiency or a virus.
 
Damn.
PodPiper, that sure does look like you nailed it- sucks that they're apparently not going to recover. I'm going to keep them in the mix until I contact the local cooperative extension service and see about getting them sampled, but yeah, I guess they're written off then.
What I'm worried about now is the source- I've got no clue what the poison vector is, so I don't know what to change.
  • I do use Ortho Weed-B-Gon on my lawn, but I do not use that equipment in the greenhouse or house itself, and I've not sprayed it anywhere near the greenhouse. I do not see this as the vector.
  • I had an outbreak of aphids and spidermites for which I sprayed Sevin. This was the only chemical sprayed.
  • This year, I've definitely tended towards underfertilizing rather than overfertilizing.

My conclusion for the time being is to do nothing different which is fortunate for me as I'm inherently lazy and resist change anyway, although I sure do wish I could do something. I am worried about whatever cause this still being around, though.
 
Hinky, hate to break it to you, but the active ingredient in Weed-B-Gone is 2-4-D. Even if you haven't sprayed near your plants, wind can carry the spray around. All it takes is a tiny bit of the mist to cause funny shaped leaves like those above. If they'd been hit with a big puff, they would have just died.

Sorry about the plants man, but I'm thinking they're goners. I've seen this a few times this year in commercial grower's plantings.
 
The is for sure 2,4-D damage. While its very effective on your lawn it volitizes easily and can be carried or drift very easy as well. I had damage last year from spraying over a mile away.
 
The plants are not goners but I would not eat the fruits but it is safe to grow them out for the seeds because it will not carry over into the next generation.
 
Now why can't you eat the pods if say you remove all affected leaves, remove all the current pods, and flush the pot the plant is in? Not arguing, I actually want to know what goes on in terms of contamination.
Thanks in advance.
 
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