seeds Carolina Reaper Seedling's Leaves Turning Black

Jalabenjo · Apr 15, 2015

This is one of three reaper plants that are turning black. I got the seeds from Ed Currie. The soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest. Is this darkening of the leaves normal? Other peppers that aren't reapers I have that are in the same soil are not doing this.

juanitos · Apr 15, 2015

looks fine to me.

winland · Apr 15, 2015

Can not tell from the photo, but would guess they are too close to the light.
Possibly getting over heated/burned.

No idea what light source you may have or duration.

chocolatescotchbonnet · Apr 15, 2015

what type of lights, soil are u using?

AaronTT · Apr 15, 2015

It looks like the beginning of a fungus attack, hopefully not.

chocolatescotchbonnet · Apr 15, 2015

i've had fungus attack and letting them dry out + espsom salt periodically, you will rebound.
edit: plus a low dose of ferts if u haven't used any already.

Phil · Apr 15, 2015

Sunburn. It's the lights. They'll be fine. Or maybe not....

Jalabenjo · Apr 16, 2015

I'm using a 6 bulb t8 fixture 14 inches above the plants with an 18/6 cycle. The temp stays at about 70 in the day and goes down to about 60 at night. The darkening is also starting to happen to some of my other small peppers.

suchen · Apr 16, 2015

Any chance you can take some better close-up photos in whiter light?

jointeffort · Apr 17, 2015

Maybe spider mites. My garden is hit hard right now. All leaves for new growth are turning purple then black then dead. :/

AaronTT · Apr 17, 2015

If you can take a close up clear shot of the top and undersides of the leaves. Look for some sort of magnification, and look real close for pests. I personally think its fungus, but that is usually brought on by the secretions of other pests. Might need to get neem oil, copper, or whatever you personally prefer if its both. How much water are you giving them? Looks like you might be over watering them a bit.

cruzzfish · Apr 17, 2015

Looks a bit dirty to me. Dust him off so we can see better.

Jalabenjo · Apr 17, 2015

Got some better pics.

I don't have a specific watering schedule. I try to let the plants dry out but sometimes I water to often. The pictures I posted today are from two days after the first one and it's been fairly dry since then.

Hybrid Mode 01 · Apr 17, 2015

I think it's just suntan. (Not to be confused with sunburn, which is a sudden bleaching and killing of tissue.) It's just an increase of anthocyanin (sunblock) production.
Reapers get that occasionally. They tend to produce more anthocyanins than other varieties. Not as dark as some varieties, but mine have always had purple stems and darker than average foliage.

edit: Are those veins in the pics turning purplish black (like a purple jalapeño), or are they turning a brownish, dead tissue kind of black?

Jalabenjo said:
I try to let the plants dry out but sometimes I water to often.

Don't over water. If your problem is fungal, that will kill them for sure. Check the soil by weight before watering.

Jalabenjo · Apr 17, 2015

edit: Are those veins in the pics turning purplish black (like a purple jalapeño), or are they turning a brownish, dead tissue kind of black?

They are definitely purple-black not brown.

AaronTT · Apr 18, 2015

Looks like I might have been wrong, and Hybrid mode is probably correct. From a better shot it does look like it is just the plants genetics.

crazyheat · Apr 20, 2015

My two reapers have that going on too

Underside

AaronTT · Apr 21, 2015

Yes, it definitely just looks like plant genetics producing those colors. Looks good, I particularly like the coloring on the stems. Looks healthy in these shots.

Darkgreen · Apr 21, 2015

Ove just uploades pictures showing the exact same thing. The plants looked healthy except for a tiny sunburn mark, and then they were getting this dark purplish tint that looked like anthocyanins pigment. So I guess CR must have a c. Annuum somewhere in its heritage.