srgtpepper
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Joined: Sun May 29, 2016 11:16 am

Leaves Curling need help IDing!

Hi everyone,
I have been noticing a lot of leaf curling in my pepper garden and am concerned it might be leaf curling virus. But there is a distinctive pattern on the leaves with the spine of the leaves curling up that I think should be able to help definitively ID the problem.

Some quick things to note:
All these are being grown hydroponically, so it COULD be a nutrient issue, such as lack of calcium. However, I've recently noticed this curling issue on one of my tomatoes which is being grown in soil.

However, that tomato is the tallest, so I'm also wondering if this could be cause by too much sun or possibly wind?

So my suspicions are:
-too much sun
-too much wind
-too much nutrients
-too little nutrients
-or the dreaded leaf curl virus...

Any insight would be extremely helpful!

Here are a few pictures for reference of the issue:
https://imgur.com/a/M7YQI

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Lindsaylew82
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Posts: 2115
Joined: Wed May 21, 2014 9:26 pm
Location: Upstate, SC

It could be leaf curl virus?

Is there ANY way that these guys could have come in contact with any type of sprayed herbicide? Of maybe compost from animals that are herbicide laced feed or grass?

Cause it sure looks a lot like herbicide exposure to me.

resili626
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Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:28 pm

Leaf curl virus. Look at that distorted midrib! Or nutrient deficiency but my money's on the virus.

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Lindsaylew82
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Posts: 2115
Joined: Wed May 21, 2014 9:26 pm
Location: Upstate, SC

Leaf curl virus in tomato and pepper usually is accompanied by pretty severe chlorosis.

If you search pictures of herbicide damage to peppers, this looks VERY similar. It can happen with drift from power companies, a neighbor spraying, runoff from a neighbors grass and weed herbicide (that's what happened to me!), even manure from animals that ate from treated pastures, and compost and topsoil made and obtained from tainted or treated areas.... That ish is literally everywhere! So much so that we can't even get away from it in our home gardens.

It still looks like herbicide damage to me. Night shades are particularly sensitive to even the tiniest amounts, both from the soil and from topical drift!



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