Hey all, I'm starting to see a couple of my bell and habanero pepper plants. I'm in Central Florida and it's been hot and really rainy the last week - 10 days. I'm reading about Early Blight, but the pics I've seen shows spots on the leaves, not the edges. Thanks for any input.
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Possible disease situation?
- Thread starter Curt749
- Start date
That's not a blight. I've got a whole plant with leaves like that right now. It was a combination of things. Such as:
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1) Root pests. Check around the bottom of the main stem for root aphids or scale. If you've got ants building a dirt trail up the main stem, time to take action.
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2) It's been raining. A lot. That's washing out nutrients. I would really consider getting a top dressing of vermicompost, along with a dry organic, and a bit of kelp meal, down on top of the containers. Not much. Maybe a 1/4" layer, or so. Or, if you prefer "fertilizer", put down as good of an OsmoCote type fert as you're willing to spend $ on. As much as I hate recommending that, they can be very useful here in the land of monsoons.
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3) Seasonal adjustment. I have a lot of multi-year plants, and when the weather changes over from cooler to regular Florida, they go through this, frequently.
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4) Media issues. I have a strain of some sort of mycelium that always grows like cancer in my beds, and produces little orange mushrooms. It's great later on in the season, but at first, it makes the raised bed mixes sort like dry bread. I haven't figured out the dynamic yet, but it all works out later.
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One more thing to be aware of... This might also be roots getting overheated. Make sure that you aren't in small black containers, in direct sun for 12+ hours a day. They'll cook. And it does look kinda like that. Sometimes, one issue will mimic another. You have to be careful. If it's constantly raining, that disrupts nutrient uptake, and it can look like you have a deficiency. Even though, there may be nutes a' plenty. (they are just not able to get in) Overheated roots can look like nutrient deficiency OR a lack of water. Too much water can look like not enough. Etc, etc, etc.
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I concur that more pics would be good. As much info as possible. Age of plants, size, hardening off process, location of planting, what they're planted in, etc, etc, etc.
.
1) Root pests. Check around the bottom of the main stem for root aphids or scale. If you've got ants building a dirt trail up the main stem, time to take action.
.
2) It's been raining. A lot. That's washing out nutrients. I would really consider getting a top dressing of vermicompost, along with a dry organic, and a bit of kelp meal, down on top of the containers. Not much. Maybe a 1/4" layer, or so. Or, if you prefer "fertilizer", put down as good of an OsmoCote type fert as you're willing to spend $ on. As much as I hate recommending that, they can be very useful here in the land of monsoons.
.
3) Seasonal adjustment. I have a lot of multi-year plants, and when the weather changes over from cooler to regular Florida, they go through this, frequently.
.
4) Media issues. I have a strain of some sort of mycelium that always grows like cancer in my beds, and produces little orange mushrooms. It's great later on in the season, but at first, it makes the raised bed mixes sort like dry bread. I haven't figured out the dynamic yet, but it all works out later.
.
One more thing to be aware of... This might also be roots getting overheated. Make sure that you aren't in small black containers, in direct sun for 12+ hours a day. They'll cook. And it does look kinda like that. Sometimes, one issue will mimic another. You have to be careful. If it's constantly raining, that disrupts nutrient uptake, and it can look like you have a deficiency. Even though, there may be nutes a' plenty. (they are just not able to get in) Overheated roots can look like nutrient deficiency OR a lack of water. Too much water can look like not enough. Etc, etc, etc.
.
I concur that more pics would be good. As much info as possible. Age of plants, size, hardening off process, location of planting, what they're planted in, etc, etc, etc.
Thanks for all the good info! My worry regarding if it's a disease is I've heard, depending on what disease it is, one plant gets it and can quickly spread it to the rest.solid7 said:
The first (2) pics are of the plant most affected. All of the plants were started early March. I hardened them off for a few days, for a couple of hours outside, then left them in a spot that gets shady sun, full time, for a couple of weeks. I have them in 5 - 7 gallon fabric pots along the South side of my house. Because of all the trees around, they get a good solid 5 hours of direct sun with the sixth hour in partial shade. They are all about 3-4 ft tall.
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I'm curious as to what those plants are growing in because they look a heck of a lot nicer then any of mine do.