wordwiz said:
Paul,
What type of peppers: almost all of them whose leaves are plain green. The ones with purple leaves or variegated such as Fish or Filus Blue do not show any signs.
I guess we can rule out a
type of pepper of a particular species
wordwiz said:
Where the seeds originated: Several different seed companies in the US and one in S. Africa. Some seeds came from forum members also.
Sounds like the next thing that can be ruled out is last years crop having an unknown problem
wordwiz said:
What type of soil: I have to be unique. The bottom layer is dirt from the "dead" area of the garden. It fills the bottom of the container but I doubt the roots have reached that deep yet. It is almost 100 percent silt, according to the layer test. It has some peat with manure mixed with it. Next is a small layer of potting soil, followed by bagged top soil. The plant's roots sat on this and the rootball lined with potting soil and bagged top soil to the top of the rootball. Then more dead dirt was added until it reached the first leaf.
Soil ph: About 6.4-6.5 but it is hard to tell because of the levels of different mixtures.
I find that this would be very unlikely as a common thread since you all seem to represent different geographical regions.
wordwiz said:
Water amounts/frequency. The ones on the back porch and sidewalk have been overwatered - we are far above average rainfall for the year. The ones on the front porch about half as much, just enough to keep the soil moist, though the top dries out. That dead soil simply does not retain moisture. We had six inches of rain over a two-day period and a day later I was digging in the garden and the dirt did not clump together.
This might be a similar factor since we
all have had a very wet spring with lots of storms...
wordwiz said:
Types of ferts: 12-12-12 applied when I was mixing the dirts. Approximately one ounce per pot.
I would think that this is unlikely, but you all will have to compare notes on this.
wordwiz said:
Amount of sunlight: The ones on the sidewalk and back porch have direct sun almost all day long. The ones on the front porch, which were recently transplanted have morning-very early afternoon sun.
This also seems like a possible link. I know that AJ had a few plants that got sun-scald, but I don't know about the rest of you with this problem. If so, are the plants that got sun-scald the ones with the weird growth?
wordwiz said:
Infestations: except for a couple of plants that seemed to have aphids just before I transplanted them, no signs on any other plants.
Another possible link...Is it possible that the aphids this year are carrying some new type of disease? I know that we all have seen this with the mosquito population over the last few years.
wordwiz said:
Stage of development: Most of the seeds were sown December 20-30, though a few were re-sown Feb. 7. The last were sown Feb. 23. They have been transplanted since May 1- May 30. Some have pods that are nearly ripe, some are flowers but no pods yet, the last that were planted have not flowered yet.
Temps: the ones that show the worst signs of curling are those whose first few days were in intense heat - low 90s. They were not in the direct sun except for the morning when the temps were low 70s - 80s. The ones on the back porch, most of which show far less curling and some next to none, started out in very cool weather, some days the temps not making it into the 60s. They had been out close to a month before we had more than two days in a row of 80 degree temps and six weeks before the 90s hit.
Somthing else we probably should compare is, what has our individuale UV index been foe the year so far. Could this be caused by higher than normal UV levels for the particular plants development stage? OR Could this be a combination between higher UV levels coupled with an immediate heat wave.
I know in my area, we went from 70 degree weather right into the 90's without a gradual step. Could the plants be in some sort of shock, thus the new growth is trying to compensate by curling itself?
wordwiz said:
If I had to postulate a cause, it would be the plants' normal response to high temps, the kinds normally not seen this early in the season.
Mike, I want to thank you for taking the time to post all of this information. I really think that there has to be a common thread here somewhere and by comparing notes, we might be able to find the cause to this problem.
You may be right that this may be the plants' normal response to higher than normal temperatures and perhaps maybe higher than normal UV levels. I know that it seems every year the UV index keeps going up.
I hope that no one is offended by my suggestions or aid in analyzing this phenomenon. I am only trying to help....
I don't see any pests at all on the rest of them.
