help with my peppers.

bwood1982

9 years ago

I started seeds indoors under lights and transplanted 2 days ago. I noticed spots on a few leaves but went ahead anyways. Now the spots have gotten worse and the leaves are transparent where the spots have been. The are in a makeshift greenhouse to keep direct sun and wind off of them. We have had cloudy days since I transplanted but the wind was so bad on my tomatoes that I made a pvc greenhouse with just 4 mil painters plastic. There are open doors on both sides for airflow just helps with the 20-30 mph winds. Not all the peppers are affected but if it's some kind of disease I don't want it to wipe out my other stuff. This is my first garden so I'm learning how calming and stressful a garden can be. Lol. Any ideas would be appreciated.

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Comments (5)

digdirt2
9 years ago
Much of what you are seeing appears to be is environmental damage. Were these plants well hardened off first before transplanting? If not then that is the cause.

Don't know your location so are you very sure you should be transplanting peppers outdoors yet? It is far too early for them in most of the country.

Are there any signs of pests? Look closely for aphids or spider mites on the underside of the leaves as they are another possible cause.

At the very least remove all the severely damaged leaves. The plant gains nothing from leaving them in place and if there is any fungus or bacterial disease process it will spread if they are left on the plant.

I see many of the leaves are wet. Rain or watering? They need to dry out and be kept dry as wet leaves only encourages fungus growth.

Dave
bwood1982
Original Author
9 years ago
Well I found the culprit, tiny green caterpillars. The leaves were wet because I sprayed all of them with Epson salt solution.
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digdirt2
9 years ago
Kind of a lime green? Beet armyworm caterpillars. If there is one, there are many as they don't come in singles but in bunches and you should also find while cotton-looking clusters of eggs.

But just one? One couldn't do all that damage so if that is all you found the odds are he is just a coincidence.
bwood1982
Original Author
9 years ago
Yeah I killed probably 25 of them on 10 plants. They left like a silk web under the leaves, and they were lime green I'd say. I'm kind of color blind so that doesn't help. The only pics of horn worms I found were big caterpillars. Whatever they are they sure showed up hungry.

I transplanted this early because the weather had been fantastic, 70-80 day and 55-60 night. The 20-30 mph winds had been the only deal.
hotpickles
9 years ago
The bugs may have been some of the problem. When moving peppers from indoor lights to outdoor locations you must slowly get them used to "actual sunshine". The stronger rays burn the leaves quickly. Not to worry though new leaves will appear most likely. Next time when you transfer to out side keep them somewhat shaded and relay them out starting at 1 hour then move to 2 hours, then 3 hours, then try 5 hours. Be sure and keep them protected from strong winds unless you had fans on them when in the house. I start using fans in the house at least a month before transplanting to harden them off to the wind. I also put small stakes next to each plant and a twist tie attached to the stake to help protect the plant from breakage. I start my pepper in January and can't plant until June. When I plant they are providing pepper in two to three weeks. It's Great!