Serrano branch-end disease?

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Anyone seen this condition before on a serrano plant, or any other species?  Previously healthy, thriving specimen has developed a weird branch-end condition where all new growth withers before forming new leaves.  Established leaves and branches are fine, blossom/fruit production from them doesn't seem to be affected (yet). All other variables are under careful control: water, temp (in greenhouse), air circulation, soil condition, feed etc.  Other capsicum species in same grow area are doing fine with no sign of the condition.  Anyone?
 
http://flickr.com/gp/pete_sirois/80MtFV
 
http://flickr.com/gp/pete_sirois/q4T3P6
 
http://flickr.com/gp/pete_sirois/naK204
 
I have the same problem. Broad mites have been mentioned, but I am following this because I have no definite answer.
 
I hope we get one.
 
I have bad news for you, it will spread and get way worse.  :tear:

Here are some more pics to add to the discussion, hopefully they will help:
 

 

 

 

 
 
I'm experiencing the same thing. Originally I thought it was due to a high dose of Epsom salt I sprayed a while back, but recently have had some plants come down with this that were never sprayed. Yesterday I put another Ghost Pepper into my quarantine area only to find my two large Tomatillo plants have come down with this too. So it's not pepper specific. One thing I have discovered is that cutting the infected growth seems to make it worse and the plant continues to die back further down, and branches that were cut start to rot about two to three inches down. They do seem to survive the topping but the plants look hideous.There seems to be less stress on the plant when I just let the new growth die back on its own. It's very strange, and although I'm not happy for your outbreak, I am happy to know that there are others trying to figure this out. I too will be following this thread.
 
@Pepperdaddler was right: my serrano symptoms are due to broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus).  On examining fruit surfaces under a 30x printer's loupe I can see both adults and juveniles (need 20x or better magnification to see them).
 
 I'm following this article from Cornell U. extension coop for intel and treatment (using Avid).  Will keep you posted on results, thanks again Pepperdaddler.
 
Please keep this updated. I have heard there is really no cure except for predatory mites that will eat them.

Avid is so expensive, there has to be another way.
 
Datil said:
 
Avid (and alikes) or Sulphur are the best solutions against mites.
Check this thread:
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/40796-calling-it-a-season/
 
Cya
 
Datil
Click to expand...
 
 
Thank you Datil, and thanks to Trippa and Smokemaster for their replies on that thread.  I've summarized here (emphasis is mine):
 
 
Posted 25 July 2013 - 08:37 PM by Trippa

I know I have posted this 2 times already but I believe with broadmite and mites in general being such an issue its well worth a read and its an experiment directly on Pepper/Chilli/Capsicum plants.
(If you don't feel like reading go straight to the table where it shows the efficiency of different products in stat form and keep in mind that Azadirachtin is the active in neem products )
 
http://www.pvamu.edu...rsonemidae).pdf
 
I know it certainly opened my eyes , so basically if you want to stay organic and spray for quicker results then natural predators you use sulphur (my personal choice) and if you couldn't care less about organics you go with Abamectin (Avid, others).  Interesting thing is if you went with Sulphur and sprayed again around the 11th Day you would have almost ndentical efficiency then the Non organic product.

 
 
Posted 25 July 2013 - 07:41 PM by smokemaster
I tried predator mites, enough for 1/4 or 1/8th acre on my 200 pots.
They can't keep up with the broad mites once they are established.  Seems the predators are also heat and humidity sensitive,more so than other mites.  I hear you can't use them in a greenhouse in the summer( heard that from commercial growers here in Ca.).  Seems the same critters that like spider and broad mites like the predators better.  Lacewing Larva seemed to be the best for about ANY nasty that comes in my garden.  I found wasps, nematodes and lacewings are the best thing to use.  I tried EVERYTHING known to man poison wise(from natural to systemics) on mites.  Lacewings and a fungal with 12%+ of sulfur work to keep my garden somewhat cool.  My best results were a combination of sulfur and bio-predators (sulfur so far doesn't seem to mess with lacewing larva OR I lucked out and I have too many adults laying eggs every night so what gets killed is replenished).
 
Holy crap.... this might actually be what caused the funk nearly all of my peppers got earlier in the season.... I thought I had over-fed epsom salts as well.... or that I had a major calcium defficiency problem.... but now im thinking it was these little f*ckers..... WOW!!!!!!   All of my plants recovered... but they were set back pretty majorly.  From late april to the end of may they showed almost no growth and the tops died... turning hard and waxy, curling, and sometimes rotting off.  They bushed out form the bottom though... and they are now all 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide XD
 
Noah Yates said:
Holy crap.... this might actually be what caused the funk nearly all of my peppers got earlier in the season.... I thought I had over-fed epsom salts as well.... or that I had a major calcium defficiency problem.... but now im thinking it was these little f*ckers..... WOW!!!!!!   All of my plants recovered... but they were set back pretty majorly.  From late april to the end of may they showed almost no growth and the tops died... turning hard and waxy, curling, and sometimes rotting off.  They bushed out form the bottom though... and they are now all 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide XD
Click to expand...
 
 
What was your remedy??
 
Well... I am really not entirely certain that it was thoise mites... the problem occured at the same time that several factors were at play... for one, they were pretty root-bound (14 inch tall plants in 4 inch pots)...  it was when i was first bringing them outside (before exposure to full sun... when they were in flitered sun/shade).  At that time I also gave them a dose of some pretty strong compost tea (with some epsom salts and potash added)...  at the same time... a few of them had some aphids and a few had spider mites... so i treated them all with a soaking spray of neem seed oil (mixed to the correct concentration).. followed by a spraying of garlic and hot pepper spray a week later... Also, around the same time the problem developed.. I went ona 3 day vacation and apparently during that time the temps might have dipped into the mid 30s.... Another consideration is the fact that the problem started to correct itself when I planted them in the ground... (not only did they shoot out from the bottom... but the tops which had not rotted began to produces small, healthy leaves out of the nodes....)  This would seem to indicate that it was indeed an issue to do with either nutrient defficiency or stunting due to root-balling.... (but then again the mites may have just died once the peppers developed an antibody....)
 
of course there is also the possibility of a fungal/bacterial infection of the roots?!
 
I am having an almost identical problem on my plants this year. I have been trying to figure out what happened for weeks now. I thought it might be a disease, or some tainted AACT, but I am now suspecting mites. I haven't seen any, but all I have available is a 10x loupe. I did see a few thrips on one of the plants, but I haven't read anything that says thrip damage could be so severe. As a test, I treated one of the plants aggressively with a pyrethrin insecticide (twice a week for 2 weeks, including all around on the soil), that did zip to control the problem.
 
Just today I reached the full depression stage about this an ripped up all the worst affected plants. All I have left are my overwinters, a red hab that was well established before the problem appeared, and a wild chiltepin that I am desperately trying to save because I don't have any more seeds from the parent plant. 
 
I already tossed them, but the root structure on some of the plants I ripped up did not look good. There was hardly any of the fine hair roots, and the larger roots had a lot of lumps and nodules. I did have a real problem with fungus gnats earlier in the year on those particular plants so...? The vascular structure in the branches seemed fine to me and similar to the other pics the older growth was untouched. Only the terminals show damage with deformed, stunted growth. Some affected leaves are singed at the margins. The very worst areas have a red-brown color, are extremely tiny, and rolled.
 

I can post pics tomorrow, too dark outside now.

 
I really hope there is a solution for this. I feel like somebody has kicked me in the low ones every time I go out in the garden.
 
PepperWhisperer said:
I really hope there is a solution for this. I feel like somebody has kicked me in the low ones every time I go out in the garden.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah that sucks... :mope:
 
If you think it is a pathogenic fungal or bacteria infection then you could get some hygrozyme.
 
PepperWhisperer said:
I am having an almost identical problem on my plants this year. I have been trying to figure out what happened for weeks now. I thought it might be a disease, or some tainted AACT, but I am now suspecting mites. I haven't seen any, but all I have available is a 10x loupe. I did see a few thrips on one of the plants, but I haven't read anything that says thrip damage could be so severe. As a test, I treated one of the plants aggressively with a pyrethrin insecticide (twice .
.
.
Only the terminals show damage with deformed, stunted growth. Some affected leaves are singed at the margins. The very worst areas have a red-brown color, are extremely tiny, and rolled.

 
Click to expand...
 
That description of your terminal new growth matches my symptoms, and the broad mites (P. latus) are there.  Need 20x or better to see them.
 
Have done much research since my first post, relevant studies/references are described above (again thank you PepperDaddler and smokemaster).  I'm considering a knock-down of lime sulfur spray, with concentrate diluted to less than half-strength prior to mixing with water (to get the ~12% smokemaster mentioned in the other post).  If my first round of Aza-Max doesn't work I'll apply Hi Yield Lime Sulfur, purchased today in WA state ... and allegedly banned in most states in the US (mfg website even says product discontinued).  The EPA doesn't like something about this compound - I haven't read full toxicity studies yet.  The most effective synthetic I found in the studies is abamectin (crazy-scary product names like Avid, Affirm, Agri-Mek, Zephyr), upwards of $220/qt and itself a neurotoxin, though only vertebrate-neurotoxic in concentrations way above "safe" horticulture/agriculture application levels.  Manufacturers claim bee-safe if applied per their instructions.  
 
I'm angst-ed to use any of these compounds (risk to environment, beneficials, food/soil web, me, all of it) - but I'd be equally troubled if my entire capsicum grow was wiped out.  Had I caught it in time I'd start with bio-predators - in fact I plan to follow 2nd chem application with lacewing egg placement, both in greenhouse and outside grow areas (thanks smokemaster).
 
Here's the link again to the PVAMU study on control of P. Latus, with capsicum annum one of the 2 host plant species (the other was cucumber).  Calcium polysulfide (lime sulfur) came in 2nd for efficacy, abamectin was 1st and azadirachtin 4th.  I use azadirachtin (Aza-Max) to control aphids but it had a weak showing against P. latus in the PVAMU study.  Posts on the cannabis forums seem to bear that out too (ie azadirachtin doesn't work against P. latus in the long run).  Some minor consolation: in this study from Brazil lime sulfur showed as non-phytotoxic to capsicum hosts.  The bad news: beneficial predators suffered : (
 
As far as I can tell Lime-Sulfur (active ingredient Calcium Polysulfide) isn't toxic in the sense that it is a poison, but it is dangerous. The ph is crazy high (11.5). If you get it in your eyes or breathe it in or swallow it you are in for a real bad time. The interwebs have all kinds of rumor about it being banned but I strongly suspect it was more of a liability issue. Straight from the MSDS:
 
10.4 INCOMPATIBILITY:  Strong oxidizers such as nitrates, nitrites or chlorates can cause explosive mixtures if heated to dryness. Acids, acidic materials or dilution with water will cause the release of hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic gas.
 
Given that this stuff can melt your face off if mishandled, release toxic gas when mixed with water(!) and also can be made into an explosive, I would guess that the legal department at most manufacturers put the big fat reject stamp on it when they heard it was going into an over the counter product for any Joe Moron to buy.
 
PepperWhisperer said:
As far as I can tell Lime-Sulfur (active ingredient Calcium Polysulfide) isn't toxic in the sense that it is a poison, but it is dangerous. The ph is crazy high (11.5). If you get it in your eyes or breathe it in or swallow it you are in for a real bad time. The interwebs have all kinds of rumor about it being banned but I strongly suspect it was more of a liability issue. Straight from the MSDS:
 
10.4 INCOMPATIBILITY:  Strong oxidizers such as nitrates, nitrites or chlorates can cause explosive mixtures if heated to dryness. Acids, acidic materials or dilution with water will cause the release of hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic gas.
 
Click to expand...
 
I think it's pretty highly toxic too, in the poison sense.  Also from the MSDS:
 
"TOXCITY [ed: their typo] INFORMATION: Extremely toxic if swallowed; about 1 ounce or more could be enough to be fatal to a 150 lb. Person. Decomposition occurs in the digestive tract releasing hydrogen sulfide gas. (See Health Hazard Data)."
 
Rest of the MSDS reads scary - I'm reluctant to use the product, especially on a food plant.  May just take my chances with Aza-Max for now.
 
Have been reading about the mycoinsecticide metarhizium with great interest.  More here from Penn State Univ. extension.  Met52 EC is available now as a commercial ag application (and at commercial prices - $190/quart).  Manufacturer Novozymes Bio-ag is preparing a retail size at lower cost, expected in Q1 2014.
 
ps: who's the moderator to stick this post and/or others like it at top of the grow forum?  Lots of great information every cap grower is interested in and can contribute to.  Topic "Pest and disease control" or something.
 
Pics. This is a chiltepin. I already tossed the habanero and a couple of others that had much worse damage. As you can see, the older leaves look fine. The most recent growth seems to be a tiny bit better, hard to tell in these pics though. Recent treatments I have applied are:
  • Ag Lime on soil surface - some symptoms present as Ca deficiency, plus I had been dumping coffee grounds on the soil so a little Ph bump shouldn't hurt 
  • ASA (aspirin) foliar spray - rumor has it that this boosts the plant's immune system, so if it is a viral infection I thought I would give this a sho
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Good ol California. It appears you have to have a license to buy Lime Sulfur or Avid here. I finally tracked some down at a fair price only to find out you need an Ag License. The guy at the nursery said every time they find something that works, California is the first to make it illegal. Now what, just watch my plants disintegrate before my eyes. Can't wait to retire and get out of this State.
 
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