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Leaves falling off suddenly

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Nick4978

Had anyone else experienced this? Is it normal? Yesterday, all my plants were looking great. Today I go out there and they're still looking great except a whole bunch of green leaves just fell off of several of the plants. I checked the water and it's still very moist. Do they just do that sometimes? The fruits on them also still look nice and green.

(Sorry for the sideways pictures, the Galaxy did that)

Thanks!
 

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Wind is a possible factor because I wasn't here the whole time so I'm not sure about the wind conditions (although there was nothing worth mentioning any other time I was outside nearby), however, all of the leaves fell straight down into their respective pots as opposed to all over the racks, the ground, etc.

Another factor that I just remembered is that yesterday I sprayed soapy water on all of the plants to combat the aphids. The wind theory doesn't really seem to add but could it be that, despite what the articles say, soapy water really isn't the best natural cure for aphids?

Thanks!
 
Also to add to the soapy water theory; although I sprayed every plant with the soapy water, only one rack was affected with the leave dropping issue.
 
Nick4978 said:
Also to add to the soapy water theory; although I sprayed every plant with the soapy water, only one rack was affected with the leave dropping issue.
Click to expand...
 
I would suspect critters. For example, a bird or a cat.
 
Nick4978 said:
Wind is a possible factor because I wasn't here the whole time so I'm not sure about the wind conditions (although there was nothing worth mentioning any other time I was outside nearby), however, all of the leaves fell straight down into their respective pots as opposed to all over the racks, the ground, etc.

Another factor that I just remembered is that yesterday I sprayed soapy water on all of the plants to combat the aphids. The wind theory doesn't really seem to add but could it be that, despite what the articles say, soapy water really isn't the best natural cure for aphids?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It was the soapy water if you sprayed during the daylight. I made that same mistake and the same thing happened to all my plants two seasons ago. Some sort of combination of the water drops on the leaves acting like a magnifying glass burning the leaves and the soap, because instead of just getting burn spots like plain water does, the leaves drop off entirely. Now I only spray at sunset. They may get worse, in my case the plants that took it the hardest we're almost down to bare stems by the time leaves stopped dropping.

Never spray anything on the leaves Durning daylight, especially sunny days.

Good luck!

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for your insight! That sounds like exactly what happened because I did in fact spray the soapy water on them during the day. And yes, some of them ended up losing all of their leaves and just leaving the bare stem and the fruit. Thus far, it doesn't look like anything was affected except for the leaves because the stems and fruit still look good. Just all of the leaves fell off. 
 
Thanks for sharing your experience!
 
Nick4978 said:
Thank you for your insight! That sounds like exactly what happened because I did in fact spray the soapy water on them during the day. And yes, some of them ended up losing all of their leaves and just leaving the bare stem and the fruit. Thus far, it doesn't look like anything was affected except for the leaves because the stems and fruit still look good. Just all of the leaves fell off. 
 
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Click to expand...
They'll bounce back, but it'll shave a few weeks off your season since they have to spend time regrowing foliage.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
U)<now said:
It was the soapy water if you sprayed during the daylight. I made that same mistake and the same thing happened to all my plants two seasons ago. Some sort of combination of the water drops on the leaves acting like a magnifying glass burning the leaves and the soap, because instead of just getting burn spots like plain water does, the leaves drop off entirely. Now I only spray at sunset. They may get worse, in my case the plants that took it the hardest we're almost down to bare stems by the time leaves stopped dropping.

Never spray anything on the leaves Durning daylight, especially sunny days.

Good luck!

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
Of the two Carolina Reaper plants I have, this happened to one of them a couple weeks ago. After spraying with diluted dish soap, one of my plants started dropping leaves and new growth was just dying off as fast as it was sprouting. That plant that started dropping never recovered.
 
I had sprayed them the day before the problem started but can't remember whether it was day or evening. The plants are on my back patio and only get direct sunlight for a few hours a day. The second plant never showed any signs of trouble. I did however switch from the dish soap I had in the house to Dr. Bronners Castile soap since that happened. I haven't read anywhere that spraying with soap during the day could potentially cause problems but it is good to know.
 
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