georgeisabamf
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have a problem with some of my pepper plants

I have to start by saying that I am terrible at diagnosing a problem with my vegetable plants, which is why I came here. I live in the south eastern United States where it's already warm out (90* today), and so I recently planted a few different vegetables. They all appear to be doing fine so far except for two of the varieties of peppers I am growing (one is a mammoth Jalapeno and the other plant is a Bulgarian Carrot plant). Both have what appears to be something eating the edges of the leaves on the plant (it's only on one leaf per plant right now, not at all over).

Here are some pictures of what I am talking about:

Bulgarian Carrot-
Image

Mammoth Jalapeno-
Image

I have been watering them daily (with a sprinkler so water does get on the leaves) for about 20 minutes or so. Before transferring the plants into the garden I mixed in a little bit of bone meal and blood meal into the soil but not a lot. Does anyone happen to know what my problem is? My other plants look fine so far. They've only been in the garden for 4 days now and wasn't expecting to see any issues so soon.

I can provide you with any other information you may need to know, just ask away!

imafan26
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Have you seen any snails? go out in the evening after dark with a flashlight or early in the morning. This time of the year, they are out in droves.

georgeisabamf
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imafan26 wrote:Have you seen any snails? go out in the evening after dark with a flashlight or early in the morning. This time of the year, they are out in droves.
I haven't, but then again I haven't been inspecting the garden at those hours. I'll try and look tonight and see if I find any! Thanks for the help thus far.

The damage happened overnight as far as I can tell so that may be a possibility.

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rainbowgardener
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It does look like something might be eating it, and slugs/ snails are the only thing that bother my pepper plants. But it doesn't look like slug damage.

Slugs usually leave round/ oval holes more in the centers of the leaves:

Image
https://www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/m ... aeb624.jpg

As the damage progresses, if nothing is done to stop them, the leaves can turn to lace work:

Image
https://www.thegardenerseden.com/wp-cont ... severe.jpg

But maybe. If you look at edges of the leaves in first picture, some of them look similar, though the round holes is what I am familiar with. Imafan is right, you will never see slugs/ snails, unless you go out late at night with a flashlight. Sometimes if you lay a board flat on the soil and then come out in the heat of the day and turn it over, you will find them congregated under it.

georgeisabamf
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Well I checked about an hour ago (9 PM) and saw nothing, but I may have to wait until later for them to come out. I also notice what appears to be squiggly lines in some of my leaves and I get this problem every year with my garden. They're squiggly lines that are brighter in appearance than the rest of the leaves, yet there isn't any holes. Any ideas on what that is?

These might be easy to diagnose problems but like I said I am terrible at diagnosing pests and other plant problems.

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applestar
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Squiggly lines are leaf miners. Most likely the fly variety. (There is also a moth that is specific to tomatoes but sometimes also affect other solanacea like eggplants). You can cut out the squiggles and dispose (the larvae are inside between the leaf chomping away -- there will be a lump at the end of the squiggle). Sticky traps are said to be effective for catching the adults.

imafan26
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slugs eat out the middle between the veins on younger leaves, but I have seen snails chomp from the edge. The other thing to look for are slime trails.

georgeisabamf
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Just a little update, I checked the plants yesterday morning at around 6:00 AM to look for snails, and did not see any. Maybe I need to check later at night (around 12 PM or so), not sure when they decide to appear really. They may still be the culprit though, they may just be really mischievous, but am interested to hear other opinions if anyone has any.

I don't test my soil for PH or anything of that nature so I'm curious to know if this could have stemmed from that. The soil I use isn't the greatest mix at all so maybe there is something to that.

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rainbowgardener
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Does not look like a soil issue, which would usually affect the whole plant, not just a few leaf edges. Either something eating it, or the beginning of a disease process. Was it pitch dark at 6AM? If not it was too late. Did you look carefully at undersides of leaves and leaf axils? Try the board technique I mentioned.

The black edge on this damage almost looks burned.... were these plants sprayed with anything?

georgeisabamf
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rainbowgardener wrote:Does not look like a soil issue, which would usually affect the whole plant, not just a few leaf edges. Either something eating it, or the beginning of a disease process. Was it pitch dark at 6AM? If not it was too late. Did you look carefully at undersides of leaves and leaf axils? Try the board technique I mentioned.

The black edge on this damage almost looks burned.... were these plants sprayed with anything?
Nope, nothing sprayed on them, just water from the sprinklers. It wasn't pitch dark really, but not light out at all. I usually am up super late at night but I just keep forgetting to check them when it's late. I did check the undersides, and didn't see any noticeable slime trails. I also haven't noticed anymore new damage to the plants either. I will try and check them real late tonight if I remember, or I'll just get a piece of board (don't think I have any laying around) and try that out.

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applestar
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Extra flowerpots, even cardboard will work... Especially after wet/damp day and night.
Hope you find the culprit, but if no more new damage, they might be OK.

imafan26
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Water the garden well, and go out on a damp night after dark. Around here at night the sidewalks will be black with a the slugs all over them. I think they like the sidewalks because they are warmer on a cold night.

If there are snails and slugs around they will come back to chomp more of the leaf off.

pepperhead212
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If it is snails or slugs, sprinkle some sluggo, or similar product around. It is a granular organic iron prosphate, which is fantastic for these critters. I just went out to sprinkle some in some areas in which I will be planting greens, just to get them under control before planting. I always do this, even for my peppers; even though the slugs aren't as bad by then, it can't hurt!

catgrass
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You have some sort of chewing insect-grasshopper, any type of caterpillar-you are in Florida, and I am thinking caterpillar, they are starting to come alive now (I am in Louisiana). Check the underside of your leaves, and dig in the dirt around the base of your plant. Haven't seen any grasshoppers yet, but will soon.

123
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last photo is Catterpillers. Guaranteed.

This kills soil bugs and deters all other bugs ( including bees so be careful)

Its also a powerful fungicide and is antibacterial.

It is 100% safe for humans and children.


Boil 2 litres of water with 2 Tablespoons of Cayenne Pepper, I Teaspoon of Black Pepper, 2 Tablespoons Cloves and 3 Tablespoons of Cinnamon.

Buy all in bulk cheaply from your local spice store like bin inn.

Boil for 10 minutes.

Take off heat. let cool a little bit but keep warm/to hot.

Pour water liquid into your Bath, add 3 small drops of dish washing liquid to the bath.

add cold water to the full height of your pots.

Place pot plants in bath and let sit in the liquid for 1 hour.

remove pots and let drain (the excess water)

Don't water the pot plants for 4 weeks at least, let the potting mix dry out as much as possible.

Collect some of the bath water mix and filter it through a old rag, pour the filtered water into a spray bottle or 25 litre sprayer, spray the foliage of the pot plants and all your outside garden until the bath liquid is all gone.

Store unused spray to spray foliage every 8 weeks, for extra grunt add 10ml of neem oil to 10 litres, if ever needed.

The added neem oil makes for the holy grail of natural sprays with this mix, if you have any other plant bio oil that will substitute for the neem.


Its amazing stuff.

Enjoy.

Grow Perfect Looking Plants.

Kind Regards

123

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