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Uuugh now what is this. Something else munching on my plants. Mites?

S

svtcontour

Some of my habs have lower leaves that are starting to turn like this...but I have looked carefully and I didnt see any spider mites of any kind. I even misted lightly looking for signs of webs and nothing.

There is this strange metallic sheen on the back of the leaf. I cant figure out if it might be some kind of fungus or insect causing the damage. Nothing online that looks like this :(

I have the high res photos here

http://powerthings.com/pics/pepper/damaged1.jpg
http://powerthings.com/pics/pepper/damaged2.jpg

For now I've been snipping the ones that look bad. There's not a whole lot but more than one plant has some lower leaves that look like this. I do have a slight gnat problem but I dont think they'd cause this right?
 
patrick said:
It looks like a fungus of some type. Do you keep the plants on the moist side?
Click to expand...

Kind of ... not intentionally but what happened is I transplanted the peppers a couple weeks ago from a 6" pot to a 12" pot so I ended up watering the big transplanted pot very well until water was flowing through the drain holes. I kept the pot in the sink until the dripping stopped and then I put it by the window. Its been nearly 2 weeks and the soil is still moist on top and even 4" down into the soil its reading a bit past half way on a moisture meter. Its got plenty of drain holes but I guess because its an indoor plant and its only about 22-23C without very strong sun coming in, its evaporating slow.

I also do mist the plants once every 3 days or so but I have an oscillating fan that I run for a couple hours during and after my misting to ensure the leaves dont stay wet.
 
I think a few forum members here are having the same issue, but no1 has solved it yet.

Do a forum search and checkout threads by fade_to_black and myself and gasfid...
Also check out my drainage thread. I think this may be the cause.
 
bennoz said:
I think a few forum members here are having the same issue, but no1 has solved it yet.

Do a forum search and checkout threads by fade_to_black and myself and gasfid...
Also check out my drainage thread. I think this may be the cause.
Click to expand...

I wonder if its a drainage issue, then drilling more holes not just at the bottom but at the sides and even half way up on the pot migh tbe a good idea ... might allow the soil to dry out faster since it will be exposed to more air.
 
Nah. More holes won't help. Just try
1. Don't let the pot sit in water - ie: a full saucer
2. Tip it sideways to drain.
3. Use a wick if needed to suck out excess
4. Only water when needed.
 
i usually do not water that much so that is comes through the drain holes at the bottom........... I just leave about a 1/2 cm layer of water on the surface with the hose and let that percolate downwards....... they are under shade cloth in the direct sun...... and i just water them once a day............
 
Looking closely at the pictures, at first I thought it was thrips, but then I saw a couple of black round objects on the underside of the leaf. Those black bumps look a lot like flea beetles, they are kind of annoying as they will jump away when you get close to them. I had a couple hanging around my over wintered plants early in the season. They seem easier to eradicate then thrips, aphids or spider mites.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
I could see 3 insects in that first pic, but dunno what they are. Spray with your fave insecticide for the next few weeks.
Click to expand...

So those incredibly tiny dots are the bugs? I thought spider mites were pretty much the smallest of the pests but I guess not.

I've got safer's soap but I have not tried it on my pepper plants. Its fairly safe to use I hope.
 
Matt Berry said:
Looking closely at the pictures, at first I thought it was thrips, but then I saw a couple of black round objects on the underside of the leaf. Those black bumps look a lot like flea beetles, they are kind of annoying as they will jump away when you get close to them. I had a couple hanging around my over wintered plants early in the season. They seem easier to eradicate then thrips, aphids or spider mites.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing them out I initially thought it was a speck of dirt but they are kind of shiny and round so too perfect to be dirt. Must terminate them all :)
 
svtcontour said:
So those incredibly tiny dots are the bugs? I thought spider mites were pretty much the smallest of the pests but I guess not.

I've got safer's soap but I have not tried it on my pepper plants. Its fairly safe to use I hope.
Click to expand...

I can see the legs on that left most black critter after zooming in on the pic. Safer's soap is fine to use on your plants, but whether or not it will be effective against those bugs, only time will tell.
 
SV, They look like Bacterial leaf spots to me. Not bugs. If that's what it is they should'nt affect your fruit production unless it gets really severe. It speads from insects and leaves thouching eachother. Its very common. You will have to treat the seeds if you keep any for next season to lower the chances of carrying the virus.
Commercial greenhouses control it with a copper spray solution and apply to the leaves.
The seeds need to be treated with a Clorox or peroxide solution also.
 
madhatter said:
SV, They look like Bacterial leaf spots to me. Not bugs. If that's what it is they should'nt affect your fruit production unless it gets really severe. It speads from insects and leaves thouching eachother. Its very common. You will have to treat the seeds if you keep any for next season to lower the chances of carrying the virus.
Commercial greenhouses control it with a copper spray solution and apply to the leaves.
The seeds need to be treated with a Clorox or peroxide solution also.
Click to expand...

Thanks madhatter, I will go to home depot and pick me up some copper based fungacide and treat them. Its just a shame because the plants are so green and nice otherwise...but as long as I can control it and not have it wipe out what I got, then thats all good I guess :)
 
svtcontour said:
Thanks madhatter, I will go to home depot and pick me up some copper based fungacide and treat them. Its just a shame because the plants are so green and nice otherwise...but as long as I can control it and not have it wipe out what I got, then thats all good I guess :)
Click to expand...

Yeah dude,
Thats what it looks like to me anyhow. I'm prety sure. You might want to keep the infected plants away from the healthy ones until they get outside. I dont think you can buy copper spray at the home depot. I would imagine a greenhouse would have that type of stuff. Here's a link on that particular virus
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/research/horticulture/nmca30.pdf
 
Hi guys, after much MUCH looking online, it looks very VERY much like damage from something called Thrips...right down to the silvery or metallic sheen that I have on the bottom side.

Now to see what the best way is to get rid of thrips.
 
I was able to pan close and look at the picture and you can see the thrips. I see one anyways. There goes the baterial leaf spot theory.
Where your plants outside SV?
 
madhatter said:
I was able to pan close and look at the picture and you can see the thrips. I see one anyways. There goes the baterial leaf spot theory.
Where your plants outside SV?
Click to expand...

Wasnt outside but I wonder if the soil I got from Home Depot might have had it in there as I transplanted the peppers into the larger pots and used the new soil...

BTW I got some better pics of the tiny little bastards. They were so small. I managed to pick one up and put it on a counter using a damp q-tip. These are like 1/2mm long. Anyway I am guessing its thrips because the damage is identical.

1.jpg


2.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg
 
Yup, that's a thrips. The first pic wasn't as well focused, but the 3rd bug (one just to the right of left black in 1st pic) is most likely a thrips too. Nuke da bastards.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
Yup, that's a thrips. The first pic wasn't as well focused, but the 3rd bug (one just to the right of left black in 1st pic) is most likely a thrips too. Nuke da bastards.
Click to expand...

Bastards eh. Yeah man nuke em!! Thats the last thing you need are those nasty things. After seeing those pictures i'll be checking my plants that show spots like that.
let us know how it goes.
 
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