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Vegetable Gardening Garden Clinic garden

What's wrong with my tomatoes and peppers?

5 years ago

Hi, I've noticed some black splotching and streaks on my peppers, and some brown dots on my tomatoes. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's wrong with my peppers because none of the photos I've found online really match, and the pictures of tomatoes I've found only show very advanced disease. I've been spraying with neem and insecticidal soap weekly. Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong and how I can fix it or control it? Thanks!

Tomatoes:

plant pics · More Info

plant pics · More Info

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this leaf is curled; it's the only one I've found so far that is.

Peppers topside:

plant pics · More Info

black blotches and streaking

plant pics · More Info

distorted growth with black on the tip

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better image of black on the tip

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black tip on a different leaf

Peppers underside:

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black extends to the underside and there's a wet spot, which could be related or an entirely different issue.

plant pics · More Info

hard to see, but the black streaking/striping extends to the underside of this deformed leaf.

plant pics · More Info

black mottling with some pitted spots near the stem and veins

Thanks a lot for your help; I'm worried sick!

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
there used to be a very active pepper forum ... where you might find experts you wont find in these forums ...

welcome to the forums ... lets start with more info ...

where are they ... big city name... in ground or potted.. out of the ordinary ambient weather if any ... and pix of the whole plants ...

what fert .. how often.. and how applied ... was it applied to the leaves???

and a full history of what you sprayed.. when you sprayed... and why you sprayed ...

have you ever sprayed the plants at mid day in full sun???

this is nothing worth being worried sick about .... plz relax ... ken
Kari Johnson
Original Author
5 years ago
Rochester, NY (6A)

In grow bags with non-soil potting mix (peppers in 10 gal, tomatoes in 25 gal)

I use down to earth ferilizer all purpose granular and kelp meal with an extra fourth part of fish bone meal, I've fertilized once since I put them out at the beginning of May (potting soil had fertilizer in it already). I used 1.5 tbsp per gallon for the all purpose with the extra fourth part of fish bone meal and 1.5 tsp per gallon for the kelp meal.

I spray with neem and insecticidal soap weekly since putting them out. There's a bunch of bug pests around: aphids, 4 lined plant bugs, spider mites etc but they aren't infesting my plants.

My peaches have bacterial spot and I ordered some cease to spray but it won't be here for another week or so. I didn't want to use copper fungicide on the peaches right now.

My snap beans had rust but I sprayed with immunox and they're recovering.

I only sprayed my peppers with neem and Castile soap late in the day. Sometimes the sun is still out but setting.

It's rainy and getting dark so I can't take any whole plant photos right now.

I'm just worried because I really love my plants and my garden. I've put a lot of time and money into it.
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virraszto: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your peppers may never recover their usual vigor. They'll live and bear fruit, but don't expect your usual robust plants. Here's why. Peppers are of tropical origin. When exposed to night temps lower than about 50 degrees, it tends to permanently "stunt" the plant. People with the patience and ability to do so wait several weeks after planting, say, tomatoes before setting out their pepper plants (tomatoes don't suffer this same characteristic). If it's any consolation, my peppers are in the same boat as yours...just sitting there doing very little. I, too, planted them and took the chance. I lost! ~smile~ This Spring has been a cruel one here in PA, with temps bouncing all over the place...including too many cold nights. Good luck...I hope this sheds some light on your original question. Regards, Hal in PA
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I'm not convinced it's BER. Thanks for the better pic. That was the reason why I asked for a closeup. It COULD be BER, but the beige portion leads me more towards what everybody else thinks.. sunscald. Happens more to large fruited annuums, like bells. Best way to deal with it is acceptance.. You're almost always going to get a fruit or 3 that get it. Another way is shade cloth -- Peppers love sun, but some shade cloth during midday will help. If it's BER, you'll see see rotting at the tips on many, if not all, the fruit. Hard to deal with BER once it's there since most forms of Calcium take so long to break down and be usable. Bone meal(or lime, but lime raises ph) added months in advance of planting is recommended to gardeners with Ca deficiency. Kevin
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Keep in mind Domo, that neither cow manure, nor peat moss is soil. Mixed together, they still aren't soil lol. Do not despair! Not all may be lost. The biggest problem is that by now you probably have fruit, and making physical changes to the growing medium would probably send the plants into a shock. Too late in the season to recover. I would flush the medium with a lot of water (like - a lot.) Then mix up a low-concentration fertilizer tea, or a soluble fertilizer solution made specifically for tomatoes and add that at in low doses. Watch for a response from the plants (can take a few days to a week.) Another, more difficult problem is ph. The peat, unless pre-conditioned by the seller, is acidic. Ditto, but not as much so, for manure. Tomatoes don't mind a little acidity, in fact they prefer a mildly acidic medium. However, the two substances you have in those buckets are probably more so than you want. The manure will probably buffer the acidity a little, but you need to do some research into maybe adding an alkaline amendment, such as hydrated lime (contains calcium, an important nutrient for tomatoes.) It's a tricky move though, as hydrated lime can be powerful stuff and a bucket is a very small environment. It must be added sparingly and carefully. You can look up the specifics for the ph needs of both tomatoes and peppers, and how to adjust ph using slurries and liquid mixes, but knowing the exact ph of what you have would help a lot. In any case, although tricky, it's not hard, and you can do it. Just remember... less can be more, and from this experience you'll learn A LOT! about the needs and care of plants.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
5 years ago
Kari, you need to be careful about using any kind of spray on them too frequently, or in the direct sun, or in high temperatures. You could be causing some of those symptoms!

As a general rule, we encourage gardeners to have an exact identification of a pest before spraying. Insecticidal soap is a contact pesticide and worthless used prophylacticly.
Kari Johnson
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks a lot. I have seen four lined plant bugs and the circular damage from them on my peppers specifically, as well as spider mites. The Castile soap is mainly as a surfactant for the neem. My neighbor had issues with squash borers and I've seen aphids crawling on some of the grow bags so there are pests around. Do you have any suggestions for me to balance pest management with not causing other issues? Thanks a lot. I am pretty new to this, this is only my second growing season.
Jim W
5 years ago
Could the curling pepper leaves be from a lack of calcium?
Kari Johnson
Original Author
5 years ago
James, I don't think that's likely because the potting mix I used had bone meal in it and I fertilized with fish bone meal as well. The peppers are growing ok too, no blossom end rot so far.
CA Kate z9
5 years ago
rhizo: I was thinking the same thing: perhaps an overuse of the pesticides, especially the ones with soap. Soap can actually put a coating on the leaves that doesn't allow them to breathe. And, perhaps your dilution is off.
digdirt2
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
"There's a bunch of bug pests around: aphids, 4 lined plant bugs, spider mites etc but they aren't infesting my plants. Do you have any suggestions for me to balance pest management with not causing other issues?"

The answer to the second part of your question is found in the first part. If the pests are not on your plants then you don't spray, much less spray so frequently. ;-)

Preventative spraying just in case some pest might show up is never recommended. Not only does it potentially kill beneficial bugs but it damages the plants as you are now discovering. And homemade concoctions can be just as damaging as commercial ones. The whole point of any pesticide is to spray the pests, not the plants, and even then only if other methods of control are not available.

Dave

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