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This pretty much has to be a virus, right?

exparte

exparte

About a month ago I noticed some deformed and discolored leaves on this Trinidad Morgua Scorpion. Never really saw any pests other than just a few stray aphids. It's in a good soil mix with compost, gypsum and mineral sand so I didn't suspect a deficiency. I figured I was dealing with broad mites but never looked at it through a microscope to confirm. I attempted to eliminate them with aggressive pruning rather than buy an expensive miticide. The plant seemed to recover quickly but now half of it looks fine while the other is just bananas sickly. All of my pepper plants have been treated exactly the same and this is the only one so afflicted. It's watered by a 1/2gph drip system 30 minutes each morning and again in the evening. I've fed it with Dyna Gro Foliage Pro at 1tsp/gallon once each week for the past five weeks. It's been dry and hot for weeks now with temps generally in the upper 90s. It's blasted all day with no protection at all from the Texas sun. 
 
So what do y'all think? Any hope for this guy or is it time to destroy it?
 
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I know you checked but both potassium and magnesium defeicencies cause yellow striping of sorts.
Dont know why its only on half the plant- just giving you so,ething to research. About all the help I can give sry.
If you saw the plany Im bringing back from dead youd be blown away.
I forgot I planted it around the corner of my garage and it just went by itself all winter. No water, fert, cutting back, nothing.
Leaves were totally yellow and green patterened.
Fish mix and cal-mag has all new growth healthy dark green.
Ill grab a pic tomorrow in the light.
 
The fact that all your other ones are in the same soil and thats the only one with an issue leads me to believe you might have some sort of disease process happening. If you wanna ride it out and see what happens then I would at least recommend isolating it from the others.
 
Edmick said:
The fact that all your other ones are in the same soil and thats the only one with an issue leads me to believe you might have some sort of disease process happening. If you wanna ride it out and see what happens then I would at least recommend isolating it from the others.
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Yeah see thats what Im thinking. I dont see any reason for a deficiency in this plant alone. Its got good soil and good fertilizer. Ive never dealt with a virus before and it doesnt obviously look like anything else Ive found in my research. The half that looks fine is whats really throwing me. I guess it could still be a pest, maybe.
 
That isn't typical broad mite damage.  It may be leaf curl virus, or pepper mosaic.  The point is, that plants's fight is over.  Your season wouldn't be long enough to recover from any damage, and worse case, it can be a vector to spread to the other plants. (via pests like mites, whitefly or aphids)  I'm not sure there is a treatment for viral plant pathogens, anyhow.  And they use the plant to multiply, like any virus does.
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Send it to the burn pile.  Splotchy yellow leaves are a very bad sign.
 
PMMV (pepper mild mottled virus)? Not a great pic but you get the idea.
 

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I'm gonna go so far as to suggest that you also do some preventative maintenance for aphids and their associates.  Regardless of what you've got going on with that plant, splotches and curl is not good, and it's most certainly transferrable.  Aphids are your #1 concern, at this point, IMO.
 
I yoinked it. Now what do yall reckon is the best way to destroy it? Im in the middle of the city so a burn pile isnt really an option. I could toss it on the grill, I guess.
 
exparte said:
I yoinked it. Now what do yall reckon is the best way to destroy it? Im in the middle of the city so a burn pile isnt really an option. I could toss it on the grill, I guess.
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Come on, don't be a chicken shit.  It's your civic duty to destroy potentially endemic outbreaks, before they begin.
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I suggest that you simply paint a biohazard marking on an empty steel drum, and wear a white suit and contained breathment unit, while the offender burns.  If any authorities show up, you simply say, "move along - nothing to see here!"
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Nobody questions that line.  Nobody.
 
solid7 said:
 
Come on, don't be a chicken shit.  It's your civic duty to destroy potentially endemic outbreaks, before they begin.
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I suggest that you simply paint a biohazard marking on an empty steel drum, and wear a white suit and contained breathment unit, while the offender burns.  If any authorities show up, you simply say, "move along - nothing to see here!"
.
Nobody questions that line.  Nobody.
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You think those guys from E.T. are available?
 
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