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Delta

Delta

After a few days of much rain, the majority of my plants look like this. Sandy dark leaves, curling or deformed new growth and leave dropping. The soil is over moist from the rain but I suspect disease or infestation. I have done a fair bit of searching this site as well as the web but the possibilities seem endless. Need your help. Thanks!
 
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Well, overwatering for sure... i think thats the yellowing.... BUt this here is a combination of things it looks like...
 
Emald001 said:
Well, overwatering for sure... i think thats the yellowing.... BUt this here is a combination of things it looks like...
Click to expand...
 
I agree, there is a combination of things happening.  
 
 
To the OP, Can you give us some details of your soil, nutrients (fertilizers), water, and anything else you can share?
 
Soil is organic potting soil (Fafard - excellent reputation) and Perlite. Ferts = tomato and veg 15-15-30 applied twice. PH= 6.2 avg.
Soil has been very damp recently because of frequent rain. Insects = many houseflies near the plants (neighbor's neglected compost). I sprayed a light mist of water + Dawn dish soap thinking it might help with flies. 
 
I'm leaning toward infestation simply because my plants 30 feet away are not showing the same signs if distress and have been fed the same nutes and received the same watering regimen. The effected plants are huddled close together as the winds this summer have been quite heavy.
 
I should note that although the Habs and cherry bombs and Scotch b's are doing well, my supers have not done much in the past few weeks. Reapers have stalled completely and Bhuts, Scorpions have not turned from green. (not sure if this is normal as it is my first year with supers.) As well, not sure if all that is related.
 
It's been quite a trying year for growing. Last year I grew several plants (not super hots) and they grew themselves pretty much. I watered them every three days, no ferts and everything was fine. This year is ridiculously difficult. I realize that much of this has been covered before and I have done some searching but the info is overwhelming. This forum is invaluable, thank you.
 
I will absolutely agree with you on the reputation of Fafard, it's the same stuff I use....religiously.
 
What does the backsides of the leaves look like?  Also, is there any way you can move your plants or shade them from rain, in order to help them dry out?  I think letting them dry out will help break the stalled state of some of your plants.
 
Forgot to add, I think there is a combination of things that are plaguing those plants.  Sucks that your neighbors won't handle their compost pile, with a bit of respect.
 
Oh yeah, can you move them, once you've verified that you aren't infested?
 
Are you able to see any other tiny insects on the underside of the leaves? Maybe take a sheet of white paper and hold underneath a few of the damaged leaves and tap the leaves to see if anything falls onto the paper (thrips, spider mites). Definitely looks to be some over watering issues, might be the cause of the puckered and twisted leaves. Also could be lack of calcium but if the leaves were fine before all the rain calcium prob isn't an issue. Could wait until the plants dry out and then check to see if new growth continues to come out puckered and twisted, if so then you can treat with calmag or some equivalent or even make your own calcium acetate with dolomite lime and 5% white vinegar. The black spots on the leaves don't look like bacterial leaf spot to me but could be wrong. I've heard of mixing 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar with 1 gallon of water and spraying every morning until spots disappear or 1 part milk with 1 part water in a garden sprayer every 3-4 days to get rid of black spot. Supposedly both the milk and vinegar change the ph of the surface of the leaves making it harder for bacteria and fungus to take hold. Hopefully you get it figured out and your plants get back to healthy.
 
I can move them under the gazebo when it rains, I do that often however when it is sunny, I keep them out to dry but I'm not always home when the sky opens up which is what has happened quite a bit lately.
 
The undersides of the leaves look better than the tops. I'll check for infestation tomorrow but apart from some holes and tearing in the leaves, I've not seen anything (large enough to see with the eye).
 
The neighbor has taken steps to clean up the compost.   
 
Very few obvious signs of infestation however I did see few aphids and one tiny white bug that was moving too fast to be a spider mite or aphid. In any case I'll assume the worst. I have had success in dealing with aphids using Murphy's oil soap, alcohol and water. I have also heard that a garlic, onion and cayenne tea works well.  Any ideas?
 
Bacterial leaf infection plus soggy nutrient flushed soil.  Keep them out of rain as much as possible then once the soil dries out, give them a little fertilizer.
 
IF you can keep them out of rain then I wouldn't pluck off any but the most damaged leaves yet, as the rest will still be providing some energy for recovery via new leaf growth... but eventually the most affected leaves are going to fall.
 
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