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MichaelC
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Location: Scotts Valley, CA

Perplexing pepper problems

Hi all-

I'm having issues with my pepper plants again this year. They are all in pots and brought in at night. I'm planning to put them in the ground in a couple weeks or so, weather depending. I haven't bee able to find any pests on them, night or day.

First, a few are exhibiting misshapen leaves:
prob1.jpg
prob2.jpg
And this one has a mysterious odorless, sticky substance on it At first I thought it was just wet, then I touched it:
prob3.jpg
Any ideas? I'm starting to think I may need to give up on growing peppers here. But two years ago, when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, I had a bounteous harvest.

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rainbowgardener
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Well, the clear sticky substance is called honeydew. It is secreted by aphids (and a few other plant sucking insects, like scale insects). That could be a reason for the distorted leaves as well. Have you checked your plants over closely including undersides of leaves? Aphids come in several colors including black, but many of them are green and blend in pretty well. Or they can be yellowish or nearly transparent:
Image

Scale insects just look like bumps. They also can be green or brown or white and sometimes look cottony/ fluffy:

Image

Do a good check and report back!

imafan26
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If you don't see the pests it might be thrips. They usually cause leaf deformation and puckering and while pepper thrips are large, there are others like the Western flower thrip that you usually see damage but you won't always see them.

Sticky leaves usually means something has been sucking on the plant. If you have a hand lens or a microscope you may be able to spot them better. Like rainbow said, they try to blend in and can come in a range of colors.

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MichaelC
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Location: Scotts Valley, CA

I will look them over carefully with a magnifier and loupe a little bit later. The plant with the sticky deposit seems to be completely free of damage. I'll report a bit later on what I can see.

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applestar
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Look under the leaf(ves) ABOVE the sticky residue. Was there anything else overhanging that plant?

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MichaelC
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 11:32 pm
Location: Scotts Valley, CA

Ok, I looked them over with utmost care with a magnifier and a loupe. I can't see the slightest sign of insects. I took advantage of the fact that it's overcast today, and gave them a drenching in Safer soap. We'll see.

It could be nothing of concern. Some of my peppers showed the same leaf growth last year, and they did very poorly. But I'm fairly convinced that what caused my problems was putting them into the ground far too early for the weather.

Could it possibly be nutrient related? I've just repotted them in the last couple of days, and several were fairly root bound.

applestar, DING!! - winner winner chicken dinner. At your prompting I realized they were sitting underneath the hummingbird feeder yesterday.

I'll keep monitoring and post if there's anything worth reporting.

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Lindsaylew82
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Since you said that some of your peppers had the same curling issue last year, I'm wondering if you might have something viral. Are you using the same potting medium? Did you used some of the same containers or tools, gloves? Did you buy them or grow them from seed?

Have they been exposed to herbicides like weed and feed or anything like that?



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