New leaves seem burned and fall off easily

[ThePizzaMonster]

This is happening in a couple of my plants. The one in the picture is a fatalii plant which is full of pods already. They live on my balcony, where the temperature ranges from 68 to 86 more or less. The humidity is quite high, above 70% all the time probably. I water when the top is dry and fertilize with Miracle Gro every 1-2 weeks. Does this happen to plants when they're root bound or is that fertilizer burn (or something else)?
 

 

[Crispee-FL]

Those white flecks in your picture and the new growth damage looks suspiciously like whitefly. Shake your plant, do you see little bugs fly off, also any signs of pests on the undersides of the leaves?

 

[ThePizzaMonster]

Those white flecks in your picture and the new growth damage looks suspiciously like whitefly. Shake your plant, do you see little bugs fly off, also any signs of pests on the undersides of the leaves?

 
I checked, it seems to be dust or something. I've seen white flies here and there, but really few, I don't think they've ever done any damage. I've had spider mites, but that doesn't look like the damage I've seen in the past and I think I've got them under control.

 

[Edmick]

Spider mites are a bitch. They almost wiped out 6 zucchini plants last year before I realized they were even there. Make sure you keep a very very close eye on those plants cuz spider mites can cause what you're seeing there.

 

[ThePizzaMonster]

Spider mites are a bitch. They almost wiped out 6 zucchini plants last year before I realized they were even there. Make sure you keep a very very close eye on those plants cuz spider mites can cause what you're seeing there.

 
Really? The leaves affected previously used to be all curled up.
 
I hate that they seem to be under control and then they come back again.

 

[Edmick]

 
Really? The leaves affected previously used to be all curled up.
 
I hate that they seem to be under control and then they come back again.

They made their way to a couple of my pepper plants last year and all the new growth looked like that. I also had aphids and thrips too so who knows which ones were the culprits. I got them under control enough to still have a nice harvest though. I either threw away or burned everything that they were in contact with. Might have been a little extreme but i'm growing on a very large scale this year and can't risk it. I'm sure they'll still be back this year.

 

[ThePizzaMonster]

They made their way to a couple of my pepper plants last year and all the new growth looked like that. I also had aphids and thrips too so who knows which ones were the culprits. I got them under control enough to still have a nice harvest though. I either threw away or burned everything that they were in contact with. Might have been a little extreme but i'm growing on a very large scale this year and can't risk it. I'm sure they'll still be back this year.

 
It's particularly sad for me in the tropics because, well, in theory I get to keep my plants outside and happy all year long. I wasn't expecting to have any reason to throw them away. Are you making a business out of it?

 

[Edmick]

 
It's particularly sad for me in the tropics because, well, in theory I get to keep my plants outside and happy all year long. I wasn't expecting to have any reason to throw them away. Are you making a business out of it?

I'm selling plants at farmers markets and local online market places. Later in the season i'll be selling produce and doing seed sales.

 

[Chilidude]

Tarsonemus pallidus and Polyphagotarsonemus latus mites are so small, that you need a microscope to see them and both are very deadly mites for chilis.
 
Polyphagotarsonemus latus mite is very deadly because it likes high air moisture and attacks the growing points of the chilis. I would advise to check your chilis now for those bastards because the oval body of the adult female of P. latus is about 0.2-0.3 mm (0.008 - 0.01 inch) only.