White loose grains on top of leaves

turbo

turbo

I pulled this Reaper from my garden and potted it for an over-winter.  Its been pretty happy for about a month, but recently I noticed a lot of the leaves have these loose white granules all over them.  They aren't stuck to the leaf, they'll just roll off if you tilt the leaf or blow on it.  I looked under the leaves and there is nothing there, just on top.  Also, the plant looks pretty healthy.  Any ideas whats going on?
 
I've done a lot of searching and haven't found anything that resembles this, except for a couple pages that talked about plants excreting minerals if they are over fertilized.  I don't that is what this is since its been a long time since it had any fertilizer.
 
I'm worried its some kind of bug egg, because that's a LOT of bugs if they hatch.
 
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Have you sprayed them with any solutions? And did you bag the plant and debug them before bringing them inside?
 
I didn't spray the plant with anything.  And it was my first time to bring in an outdoor plant, so didn't think to bag / debug the plant.
 
So what is the "debugging" process?  Put the plant in a clean plastic bag for a couple days and let any bugs die off?
 
looks like epsom salt. 
 
If you're worried, take it outside and spray it off thoroughly with the hose on a setting that won't damage the plant, but will get it all off.
 
Because you can blow it off and it's not stuck to the leaves and they look super healthy just wipe the leaves off and keep a close eye one it. Looks like salts
 
Does look like epsom salt. Maybe sugar? Did you give it the taste test? Nah, scratch that :confused:
Maybe you got a donut fiend in the house who loves to eat them while staring at your peppers?
 
Well, I ended up blowing most of the grains off the leaves outside, then gave the plant a spritz with some soapy water.  Then 30 minutes later rinsed the leaves off.  The leaves look a little agitated from the soap, but none of them have fallen off and the plant still looks good.  We'll see if that stuff comes back
 
So its definitely not eggs.  Nothing hatched.  I'm pretty sure its just a mineral deposit exuded by the leaves.  I noticed that all the plants I've potted with a certain brand of potting soil have this exact same issue.  And all the plants look healthy, if you can overlook the white dust on the leaves.
 
turbo said:
I pulled this Reaper from my garden and potted it for an over-winter.  Its been pretty happy for about a month, but recently I noticed a lot of the leaves have these loose white granules all over them.  They aren't stuck to the leaf, they'll just roll off if you tilt the leaf or blow on it.  I looked under the leaves and there is nothing there, just on top.  Also, the plant looks pretty healthy.  Any ideas whats going on?
 
I've done a lot of searching and haven't found anything that resembles this, except for a couple pages that talked about plants excreting minerals if they are over fertilized.  I don't that is what this is since its been a long time since it had any fertilizer.
 
I'm worried its some kind of bug egg, because that's a LOT of bugs if they hatch.
 
 
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Turbo, I've had the same problem.
 
It's mostly just salt build up. I've alleviated my problem by fans, creating greater air circulation. They build up salts when there is an abundance of minerals and fertilizers. No big deal, just means they are well taken care of.
 
Every so often I see something that looks similar from wind blowing pollen off adjacent landscaping plants, and in one case there was a... I forget what it's called, but anyway it's a plant with a huge bloom that you're supposed to cut off once the bloom starts to fade and after it's cut off the stem dries out and the core of the stem falls out as a fluffy white substance.
 
As for minerals, do you have especially hard tapwater or well water that you use to water them?
 
Those grains look very much like what i see when i have scale/psyllid issues. Look under the leaf above where you see the grains. You will probably noticed the critters responsible, i think this is what they excrete. If left long enough you will end up with spots on the leaves that become holes.
 
Rush35 said:
Those grains look very much like what i see when i have scale/psyllid issues. Look under the leaf above where you see the grains. You will probably noticed the critters responsible, i think this is what they excrete. If left long enough you will end up with spots on the leaves that become holes.
Click to expand...
 
Yea, one of the first things I did was look under the leaves for critters.  But there was nothing
 
So when this first occurred I looked really hard for any living critters on the plants and didn't see any, but last night took a look under the leaves and saw either aphids or psyllids.  I don't care which they are...the plants are gone.  I'm starting my pepper starts in January and need to make sure the room is clean, so I'm not taking any chances.
 
Next year I'll take the necessary steps when bringing in plants for over winter.
 
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