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Red Dust or Powder on Leaves

W

wordwiz

I have two Thai Dragons and a Jalokia sitting next to each other. They all seems to have a red "powder" on their upper leaves. It doesn't wash off when spraying when water and I cannot think of an external source where it may be coming from. The upper leaves of the plants are quite thick and almost silky-like. The bottom leaves seems to be falling off, at least on the jololia.

The plants are not blooming, so I don't think it is pollen. Whatever it is , it sticks to the leaves very good. I have to wipre them with my fingers to get the stuff off.

Ideas?
 
But it did wipe off, correct? So it's probably not a virus.

Any chance of pictures? Is the air around the peppers dry or humid? What about temperature? Cool, humid conditions favor a lot of different molds. Hmmm, cool and wet can also favor physiological leaf curl, and the leaves can thicken in extreme cases. Any curling of the leaves?

Are you fertilizing? If so, with what?

Have you checked for buggies like aphids or mites or white flies? The honey dew that aphids leave is a good growing medium for molds.
 
But it did wipe off, correct? So it's probably not a virus.
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Yes, I could not blow it off but is is easy to wipe off.
Any chance of pictures? Is the air around the peppers dry or humid? What about temperature? Cool, humid conditions favor a lot of different molds. Hmmm, cool and wet can also favor physiological leaf curl, and the leaves can thicken in extreme cases. Any curling of the leaves?
Click to expand...
Pics: http://www.valleycat.net/plant.jpg
http://www.valleycat.net/plant2.jpg
Mostly dry. The temps vary from mid-60s to low 80s. Hasn't been an abundance of sunlight the last couple of weeks so have been using artificial lights quite a bit. Not much curl on the Thai peppers but their leaves are somewhat thick. The Jolokia's bottom leaves curve downward.

Are you fertilizing? If so, with what?
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Just a little, using those Miracle-Gro timed release tubes. (6-12-6, Nitrogen, Potash, Magnesium).

Have you checked for buggies like aphids or mites or white flies? The honey dew that aphids leave is a good growing medium for molds.
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There may be a bug or two but nothing close to an infestation. With three cats in the house, it is hard to avoid having a few flying insects around.
 
Ok, not the clearest of pictures, but are you sure those aren't aphids? Did they squish when you wiped them off?
 
I dusted some off onto a piece of white paper. The red powder/dust/whatever does not move. The plants do have a few very tiny black insects on them - is this something I can deal with by spraying with soapy water.

And pulling out a magnifying glass shows it is Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash.
 
Basic Insect Spray: This spray will repel insects and can also kill fungi and mites.
Mix 2 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid* (not detergent) and 1 gallon of water. Add 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda to kill fungi. Add sulfur to eradicate mites. Put solution in a properly labeled spray bottle.
 
spider mites are red but as Potawie said they are extremely tiny though an infestation of them can be accompanied by 'bronzed or russeted appearance on leaves' - check the underside of leaves, do they have webs on them? if so, this is what you have. if using the soap wash described above make sure you get the both sides of the leaves, spray once a week until they are gone.

alternately, the pics do look red coloured aphids and I can't make out any red dust or powder. aphids are nasty little sh1ts and are known to carry numerous virus baddies to your plants including Alfalfa Mosaic, Chilli Veinal Mottle, Cucumber Mottle, Pepper Mottle, Tobacco Etch etc etc... treating with the soapy stuff will help. you can also squish as many as you can with your fingers in order to exact a more rapid revenge, then spray them.

is there any leaf distortion or discolouration? it doesn't appear so from the pics, in fact the leaves and stems look healthy. so you have any affected pods?

whatever it is you need to act quickly otherwise they will take over.
 
The red stuff falls off fairly easily but not just by blowing on it. Except for the bottom leaves of a leggy Jolokia, they are bright, shiny, waxy green.

I sprayed with soapy water but didn't have any baking soda, which I will pick up tomorrow. Can one even buy sulpher without raising a terrorist alert? Considering the raised eyebrows I got when I was asking about lights, I can just see this guy rushing to his phone to call Barney Fife about me trying to buy sulpher and baking soda!
 
Just checked - no insects flying anyplace. Due to the mama's urging (and one doesn't argue with the mama!) I dusted the plants with Sevin.
 
I was going to suggest that it's rust (not that common for peppers) but looking at the pics I am going to have to say it's some eggs from an insect.
 
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