New member intro & pepper photos - need advice

13 years ago

Hi, I would like to introduce myself and hopefully get a few tips from all of you. Been lurking for a few weeks, every time I have a question this site pops up so I thought it would be wise to join.

Anyhow, this is pretty much my first season extensively growing chili's. I've grown some Jalapenos before but that's about it as far peppers go. I would like to share some photo's of my peppers and hopefully get some insight on a few problems I am having.

Currently I am am growing Bhut Jolokia, Chocolate Habanero, Jamaican Yellow Scotch Bonnet Habanero, Caribbean Red Habanero, Jalapeno and Tepin. Soil is regular potting

soil mixed with 15% Miracle grow potting mix. I water about every three days. I'm in Florida so it's pretty hot and the soil dries out quickly. I amfertilizing every 14 days with a 30-10-10 through the vegetative cycle to try to get the plants as much height and leaf growth as possible, then changing to a 15-30-15 for bloom every 14 days.

Problem #1: Leaves twisting and flipping over.

Jamaican Yellow Habanero #1 June 9th, 2010

{{gwi:1185311}}
As you can see the bottom leaves are flipping over. They stay healthy but flip and twist over.

{{gwi:1179636}}
Leaves twisting over.

Jamaican Yellow Habanero #1 June 22nd, 2010

{{gwi:1179638}}

Now this photo is a bit misleading, doesn't have the flipped over leaves but

I pruned most of them.The spots are from the spraying of leaves with a 1 part per 150 10% calcium

solution.

Jalapeno #1 June 9th, 2010

{{gwi:1185312}}
Notice the same twisting and flipping of leaves, leaves are also being chewed

up by something.

{{gwi:1185314}}

Jalapeno #1 June 22nd, 2010

{{gwi:1185316}}
The spots are from the spraying of leaves with a 1 part per 150 10% calcium

solution. I did not prune any leaves on this plant and some of them seem to have turned back over from

the spraying with calcium..

{{gwi:1185317}}
Close up of twisting leaf and chewed up leaves.

{{gwi:1185319}}
I read that distorted leaves can be due to a calcium deficiency hence the

spraying with the solution but did lot's of searching but could not find this exact problem. Anyone able to help?

Problem # 2: Wrinkly leaves.

Bhut Jolokia #1 June 9th, 2010

{{gwi:1185321}}
Notice the wrinkly leaves.

Bhut Jolokia #1 June,22nd, 2010

{{gwi:1185322}}
They seem to have flattened out a bit after the calcium spraying (were even

more wrinkled in between dates of photos).

{{gwi:1185324}}
So I applied the same calcuim solution to try to get the leaves to normal. My next step is to

spray with a soapy water solution incase it is aphids. Any help or pointers would be appreciated.

Problem #3: Misshapen leaves.

Red Habanero #2 June 9th, 2010

{{gwi:1185326}}
Looking pretty decent, a bit wrinkly.

Red Habanero #2 June 22nd, 2010

{{gwi:1185328}}
Oh no! Wrinkly and a very misshapen leaf.

{{gwi:1185329}}
Applied the calcium solution but other then that I have no idea what may be going wrong.

Problem #4: Yellow between veins.

Tepin #1 June 9th, 2010

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Notice the yellow between the veins.

Tepin #1 June 22nd, 2010

{{gwi:1185331}}
Looking pretty good, good growth but:

{{gwi:1185332}}
Still yellow between the veins....

I read that yellowing between the veins could be a number of things but I though it looked most like a magnesium deficiency.

I added 1 teaspoon of magnesium sulfate to every pot just today.

I apologize for the huge first post and all the pictures. Thanks for looking and any help would be greatly appreciated. If

you would like to view all of my pepper photos you can click on this link:

http://www.greyamps.com/peppers.html

Thanks!

ChiliFanatic

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Comments (14)

farnell
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
All I know is that the badly misshaped leaves are from insect damage. Mine looked like that and it was thirps. You can see them with a magnifying lens on the bottom. If it were aphids you could see them with your naked eyes. I don't know what causes the wrinkling and am having a similar problem with a few of mine and also believe it is a deficiency, probably phosphorus. Most of my plants have outlasted the insects and other problems so the good news is that if they are healthy (and they look pretty healthy) they will doo well anyway.
sprouts_honor
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My guess concerning the wrinkled leaves is a calcium deficiency. I over wintered many Black Pearl this year that looked the same way. Gave them some bone meal and the leaves flattened out. Thrip (and aphids) can also distort leaves. Take a close look under each leaf for small, white insects.
Good luck,
Jennifer
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simsedward
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Your plants look good. Get some sevin dust for the insect problem. Keep them healthy and you will have a ton of peppers.
romy6
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I also live in Florida and was having alot of the same problems. Like sprouts honor said a little bone meal should perk them right up.
chilifanatic
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks all for the reply's and advice. I wish I would have taken some pictures this morning, my plants looked really good and the droopy leaves were all perked up and sticking straight out! I added a teaspoon of magnesium sulfate to each plant yesterday and watered in. I am still having the problem with leaves twisting though, going to spray with calcium again tonight. Will try the 7 dust soon also. Hopefully all the little 'bugs' (pun intended) get worked out and I have some huge bushy plants with tons of peppers to take photos of and share.
robeb
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with simsedward, your plants look good.

New growth on some pepper plants produces wrinkled leaves, they grow out of it. Also, you're going to get a few leaves with some holes from insects or wind damage, no big deal unless it takes over the plant.

I think you're worrying too much. I'd leave them alone and let them grow, they're pretty tough.
sjs56222
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I am noticing the same issue right now with one of my jalapeno plants - and I am new to planting a pepper garden. I sprayed them with "Organocide" I am by no means an organic gardener but this stuff worked great so far. It kills 25 problem insects, controls 4 major diseases, and is safe to use around the home, garden, children, and pets too *smiles* it is made by Organic Labratories, Inc. I would recommend it for your peppers too - just because it is definitely working on mine. I have banana peppers, green bell, cayenne, red cherry bomb, and the jalapeno's. Good Luck with your peppers. Your plants look great!
sjs56222
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Just a quick question...how did you post your pictures? I am new to this forum as well and looking for help too. Maybe as a fellow pepper gardener you could help me figure the posting picture thing out? Any help would be great.
chimayo_farmer
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
For an expert contact:

The Chile Pepper Institute
New Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30003 MSC 3Q
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Phone: 575-646-3028 phone
Fax: 575-646-6041
Email: hotchile@nmsu.edu
chilifanatic
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
@ sjs56222 Thanks for the advice and comment about my plants. I found some natural remedies and am going to try those out today if they don't work I will try the Organocide.

I noticed ants pouring out of the base of my jalapeno plant when I watered it but I cannot find any aphids. I'm going to spray with a light vinegar solution, sprinkle corn meal (kills the ants) on the soil and black pepper also.

Like I said ealier the plants are already looking better. I will post some more photos in a few weeks when hopefully a few of my plants are really blooming. Can't wait!

As far as postings pictures. It was a pain. I actually created the post in MS Frontpage and hand edited it in wordpad and uploaded the photos to a personal website (this site needs a easy way to post photos). You could upload your photos to this site: http://imageshack.us and try to embed or just post the link to the photo(s).

@ chimayo_farmer
Thanks for the info. I was on their website last night, it was wonderful! I should be in school there if I didn't live in Florida, must be great to be around a bunch of chili heads all the time. I'm going to email them some photos and will post any info they send my way.
spice8
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice Plants! I have the same problem with a Fish and a Pequin plant. The leaves are funky like that but the plants seem healthy. I did have an aphid problem, but I released about 15 lady bugs in my hoop house, they started going to town on the aphids, only problem now is I have tons of big black ants now protecting the aphids from the ladybugs because of the crap the aphids secrete. I guess its time to 7 dust.
chilifanatic
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
@spice8

Thanks! After doing much reading I think one of the main problems is I've been hitting the plants with to much nitrogen. I'm cutting that back so hopefully I will get some nice flowers and fruit to start setting. Also, just a few days after spraying with calcium and adding magnesium sulfate the plants look much better.

I contacted the Chili Pepper Institute as chimayo_farmer suggested and got a reply right away. A nice lady named Denise said that she thinks the leaf twisting problem is from high air temperature. This could be the case considering we've been having 102-105 (heat index) days here in north Florida!

That's funny with the insect problem, sounds like a little war over your plants, I hope the ladybugs win. I made a ring around my plants with black pepper as it is suppose to repel ants, just did it today so not sure if it will work or not.

Just a suggestion, before you use the 7 dust you might want to try spraying your plants with a soapy water solution, it's suppose to get rid of aphids.

Good luck and would love to see some photos!
gypsy2
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with chilifanatic, the twisting of the leaves is caused by high temp or high humidity. Overall, your peppers look great,bonemeal every two weeks and a dusting of seven will solve most of the issues....
napalmxv3
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Don't fret over twisting leaves. Also, as far as the mishapen leaf goes, my tobago and bhut jolokia had one or two form that way in the very same growth stage yours is in. I let it go and it eventually solved itself. Now I have my first and second ghost peppers forming. I'm such a proud father!

New member intro & pepper photos - need advice

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