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Unknown disease on chilli plants, please help!

jonnyb

jonnyb

I've been growing 14 different varieties of chillies in close proximity under fluorescent lights and have noticed that there is some disease on a number of them. However, interestingly, my twilight chillies and cayenne seem the worst affected, this also includes bishop's hat and scotch bonnet's to a much lesser extent.

The plants still look healthy (good coloration and no noticeable growth problems, however some the old leaves that have been badly affected for a while have fallen off, however not sure if this is because of the disease.

It looks like a white sort of crystalline material is present on the underside of the leaves all up the plant and is particularly vigorous along the veins.

Here is a leaf (no flash)
8218108761_7ec4cd7a0f.jpg


With flash
8219188646_b5bd9b510e.jpg


twilight chilli plant

8218101733_154d92f485.jpg


yet from the top the plant looks fine and healthy
8218111279_3cd85bf97e.jpg



Not sure if it is viral, bacterial or fungal? Any suggestions of what it might be and how to deal with it would be much appreciated.
 
Wow. The back side looks like hundreds and hundreds of aphids. [Shudder!] Haven't seen that before, but good luck with your search for info. Did you try the New Mexico State University chile pepper website?

http://mastergardeners.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ549.html
 
I am definitely saying edema on this one. I had the exact same thing on my plants when they were indoors this past winter. Try cutting back on watering if you are watering more than once or twice a week, depending on the size of the container. Also, try an oscillating tower fan, or multiples at cross breezes to each other to increase air circulation. Edema tends to hit indoor plants more than outdoor since water vaporization slows down drastically without as much sunlight indoors, or open air to stimulate air currents.

You could try potting that plant up, it looks big enough for a 2 gallon container or so. That will also help prevent further edema, since the root system will grow faster as the container is increased in size, and the water won't pool up as much.
 
Thanks, You must be right about Edema. Definitely not aphids as these plant's have never been outside; I have not seen an adult aphid their entire life.

I was so surprised to see something that looked like an infectious disease, as they had been carefully protected against pests and I even steam sterilised the soil when sowing. That also could explain the variety specific sensitivity to this condition; the fact that it was worst for the Twilight chillies even though they were not even adjacent to each other.

I have a little USB fan to aid air flow/transpiration, but clearly I need to stop being such a garden nanny, and stop watering them so much.

Thanks guys and girls.

My initial thought because it sparkled and looked crystalline was that it might be a salt deposit (we have hard water near London), but I think that must just have been me thinking up bulls**t conjecture.
 
A few things to help you stop over-watering:

- Make sure your pot has sufficient drain-holes and a place to drain to. Ideally, when you water you will have nothing to stop the water from flowing freely out of the pot - like put it in a bathtub or sink when you water it. If you are top-watering, water until it flows freely out the drain holes, then stop watering and let it drain until it stops. If bottom-watering, dunk the pot until it's fairly close to the soil line, then take it out and let it drain until it stops dripping. THEN if you want to put a saucer underneath it to protect your flooring, fine. Some pots have a built-in saucer, but those are not good for peppers, IMO, because they hold too much liquid at the bottom.

- Let the leaves start to droop a little before watering again. Although the top of the soil may feel dry, the soil towards the bottom may still be quite wet. Allowing it to dry just until the leaves start drooping ensures it's pretty dry all the way through.

- If you're not good about watering, try the weight method. Water thoroughly, then pick up the pot to get an idea of how much it weighs. Wait until the leaves start drooping a tad, then pick the pot up to again see how much it weighs. Once you've done this for a few cycles, you can tell by the weight of the pot that it's getting light enough that the leaves will start drooping soon, and you can go ahead and water again.
 
Ahhh....i had this on a few of my plants too, but it never bothered me so i didn't actually find out what it was. So now i know!!

It ties in as i was guilty of overwatering during the start of my grow too :)

You live and learn!
 
Thanks, that's good advise Geeme, They are mostly in porcelain pots with no drainage holes and I just watered it whenever the top began to look dry. Silly as obviously the lower portion of the soil will still be moist, and may even be waterlogged. Will be using your weight and leaf droop method.
 
+1 on potting up,and getting some air moving. Some plants are affected by it more than others. I consider myself an underwaterer and I had issues on one particular plant last winter. It will show through the top of the leaf if it gets bad,and the leaf will get crispy and drop. Also, the leaves of plants grown close to each other will start sticking to one another and condensation will form between the leaves. That will open them up to other issues, light burn,diseases,etc...
 
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