Strange pattern on bell pepper leaves (disease?)

[DavidHarris]

Hello, does anyone know what is the cause of this pattern on some of the leaves of my bell pepper plant? Harmful?

I cut it off the plant to get a better picture. This plant also got eaten up by caterpillars but I finally got them stopped with BT.

[imafan26]

The most common cause of leaf mottling is virus. Tobacco mosaic and cucumber mosaic are the most common ones. If it is a virus, the entire plant should be destroyed. Since those viruses also affect members of the same family, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant could all get the same disease. Do not save seed either and if they are in pots, get rid of the pots and soil. In the ground, you should rotate the spot to something that is immune to that virus or use only resistant cultivars.

[DavidHarris]

Ah thats too bad, thanks for the info. It is in a pot, I will discard.

[applestar]

I thought that looks like a pretty common appearance of peppers with early blight or something like it?

I would clip off the affected leaves and, especially if in a container, just move it away from others to isolate and observe.

Are virus infected peppers common? I don't know if I've ever seem it.

[imafan26]

TMV and CMV are the most common viruses. There are resistant cultivars, so it depends on which ones you get. I find that TMV resistant cultivars are common but CMV ones are not. There are other viruses as well like spotted wilt and potato Y. Depending on when they get infected, the symptoms will vary. Young plants that are infected are stunted and the leaves chloritic. Older plants may not die but the fruit might also be mottled. Since there is a wide range of hosts for these viruses it is difficult to control them once you get them, as they can persist for years. Resistant cultivars are the best option.

Usually the telltale signs of virus for most plants are color breaks, mottling, and distorted or stunted growth. I usually don't take any chances when these symptoms show up, so I just bag and trash the plant. Usually once mottling occurs the plant isn't healthy and either does not produce fruit or produces small mottled fruit not worth saving.

[rainbowgardener]

I'm no expert and I also have not seen a pepper plant with a viral disease. But the pictures I have seen, the color mottling is more dramatic, but does not involve dark spots:


http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/v ... 2x1200.jpg

And often there are other symptoms, as seen in the picture, of the leaves thickening, crinkling, curling, etc.

I also think this is more likely a fungal problem than a viral one, in which case what applestar suggested applies.

[imafan26]

It is sometimes hard to tell with some plants if they have virus since they may have partial resistance or carry the disease and be symptom less. The necrotic spots on the leaves may be bacterial or fungal as applestar and RBG said. Usually the areas around necrotic spots form yellow halos or the necrotic spots drop out and form holes in the leaves. There are the typical halos around the necrotic spots on the leaves that you see with bacterial spot, but the mottling of the rest of the leaves is what concerns me most.

This link has good pictures of different kinds of pepper problems, but does not have any pictures of leaves with the kind of mottling you have. It does show pictures of leaves with fungal and bacterial spot and while there is necrosis and yellowing around the necrotic areas, usually the remainder of the leaf is not mottled.

http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/hot ... seases.pdf

Tobacco mosaic virus causes mottling on pepper leaves. It is not exactly the same pattern as yours but it is similar.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/ ... virus.aspx

It is possible to have more than one condition going on at the same time. Weak plants make good targets for pests and disease since they have weakened defenses.

I grow a lot of different plants and a few peppers. Since fungal and viral diseases are transmittable by contact with plant saps or through insects and I do not use a lot of chemicals, if I find a weak or diseased plant it is better for me to err with caution and sacrifice the weak plant to prevent spreading the infection to the rest of the plants. This is especially important since I do live in a place where there is no winter to kill pathogens and high humidity which is favorable to bacterial and fungal infections and I have a small yard with literally a thousand plants in pots in close proximity. Many diseases and pests share multiple hosts. Earlier this summer I have already had to toss out a tray of Thai basil because of basil downy mildew. That infection started three weeks after I saw that Walmart was selling infected basil at their store that is less than a mile away.

[DavidHarris]

Here is actually a picture of the leaf still on the plant (it was lower left, a different leaf is in blurry foreground)

[imafan26]

What does the whole plant look like?

[DavidHarris]

Ah I already took advantage of the weekend and replanted, I just happened to still have that picture on hand. Doesn't look like I took one of the whole plant.