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pests Unhealthy / bug-damaged leaves... do you prune or leave them on?

LancelBracken

LancelBracken

Hey all!

Bit of a question

If you have some leaves that aren't looking quite right, eg older leaves yellowing, or some bug damage, hail damage etc, do you pluck those leaves off or leave them?

I'm wondering which is the better path, i have heard people saying it's better to prune them and 'not let the plant waste energy on a sick leaf', but also some people say it's better to leave the plant to make the decision to drop or not by itself.
 
LancelBracken said:
'not let the plant waste energy on a sick leaf'
Click to expand...

Leaves don't consume energy, they produce energy.

If the leaf is sick looking or obviously dying I remove it, if it is damaged (e.g. by hail) I leave (ha ha!) it.
 
He mate, If it looks to me like the plant will drop the leaf by itself I figure why prolong the inevitable, pull the sick limb off for it!
 
I second MrArboc. I try not to 'interfere' with its natural cycle to much.
I generally wait untill its really dead before pulling it off, as the plant will "suck it dry" of all valuable hormones and chemicals.
 
You really can tell when they are getting ready to drop. If the plant is nice and green then the leaves not doing anything will be sick looking and yellow. They will easily fall off when you try and bend them up or down.
 
I'd pull them if it's only a few. The plant puts its energy into trying to help the bad leaf instead of growing and producing peppers.
 
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