Super Hot Chilli Problems

[tantricllama]

Hi, this my first time posting and I am hoping someone can help me.

I have 2 chili plants growing in twin autopot system, Carolina Reaper and Trinidad Scorpion. About a month ago I noticed the new growth leaves of the Reaper were distorted and did some googling to find that it was most likely a calcium deficiency. I also asked for advice from a local hydroponics store and the gave me a sample of their own nutrients which have much more calcium in it. The nutrients made the plants grow much quicker, but the new growth that came in after switching were still distorted.I have also tried using CalMag, which also hasn't worked.

One of the employees at the store also suggested it could be russet mites, which I will investigate next. But if anyone here has any suggestions, they would be very much appreciated.

I have attached some pictures of the leaves.

From today:


1 week ago:

[imafan26]

The problem is not nutritional although it looks like the peppers could use a little more light. The curling of the young leaves are most likely from mites or thrips. Aphids can also cause leaf distortion. They would be easy to find under the leaves. Thrips and mites may be hard to see without magnification.

You need to sanitize the area. I would cut off the infected parts or cull the plants if the infection is limited. The pepper will grow back and if you have a lot of plants it is better to sacrifice a few or isolate them to keep the rest from becoming infested. Bag and burn the residues. You will probably have to dip the plants and sanitize the area weekly until they are gone. Mites are spiders so they are much harder to kill. Anything that kills them will kill their predators. You can try using neem oil to smother the mites. It will also kill predatory mites. You are using a hydro system so it will be harder because the plants are usually close together so the mites will jump from plant to plant unless you can get ahead of them. If you can hose off the leaves once a day, mites like hot dry conditions and they travel on dust particles.

Sulfur would be an alternative to neem oil. They cannot be used together or the plants will burn.

Read label instructions neither oil or sulfur can be used in high heat.