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wolfridgeil

Pepper Disease? Help needed

wolfridgeil
9 years ago

For photos, please use this page1 link (bottom of message) and follow links to pages 2 and 3.

I have a bell pepper growing under lights in a bone dry basement. It has done very well, but just recently I noticed tiny white bumps on undersides of leaves. The closest thing I think I can see on the net is that this is powdery mildew, but I'm not convinced because the plant has good color, the bumps do not appear to be filamentous, and the bumps are distributed uniformly all over the undersides of the leaves (i.e. not in patches). I have read that leaves curl upward with powdery mildew and this plant shows that, but typically infected plants also have blotches of yellow and the leaves are falling off. This plant is producing nice blossoms so far.

Have you ever seen this? Maybe it is simply the very early stages of powdery mildew where somehow the plant got uniformly infected every where. Sounds unlikely though don't you think?

Any help is appreciated. I could spray with Immunox just in case, but would rather not. None of my other plants show these symptoms that I can see.

Please see the web link:
http://home.comcast.net/~edward.tucker/site/?/page/Pepper_Disease%3F_p1/

Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper Disease? p1

This post was edited by wolfridgeil on Fri, May 2, 14 at 18:56

Comments (8)

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    9 years ago

    I cannot see the white bumps on the photos. Just a guess, but could be some kind of insect eggs. But, my immediate concern is the other problem. The curled up leaves. I have a feeling from looking at the photos that the plant is probably very cramped in that small styro cup. You should have that in at least a 3.5 to 4" container. That cup doesn't look to be any more than maybe 3". I am guessing the plant is root bound really bad. Second concern is if you have drain holes in the cup. Without drain holes, you almost surely have trapped water in the bottom of the cup which is really bad for peppers, especially root bound peppers.
    First thing, repot the pepper. Second, try to get some bigger photos, more close up of the problems. Those are just not close enough/clear enough to see the mildew, spot, etc... problem.
    Good luck,
    Bruce

  • wolfridgeil
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is a photo to go along with my first post.

  • wolfridgeil
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is another...
    The cup is 4 in diameter and 5 inch tall with about 4 inch of soil, There are several good size holes (this cup previously had a nursery plant). I see no roots protruding through the holes.

  • ottawapepper
    9 years ago

    Having the benefit of your 2nd shot before Bruce sees it... I'm going to suggest maybe it's Edema. A water transpiration issue. Nothing too serious. Cut back on watering and add a fan (if inside).

    UPDATE: now seeing your 3rd shot, I think there's more than Edema going on. The leaf curl worries me. What are you feeding them?

    Others may be able to to provide some insight.

    Here is a link that might be useful: previous post

    This post was edited by ottawapepper on Fri, May 2, 14 at 19:22

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Looks like edema to me also.

    NOT PM at all. If it is PM, it would be the biggest case of PM on peppers I've ever seen -- I get PM every year, but it mainly affects my cucurbits. My peppers can be right next to it and I never see them with PM. Also, if it was PM, the tops of the leaves would be covered with it also.

    The curling of the leaves--- it's probably protecting itself. It's almost definitely a watering/transpiration issue.

    How big is that container? Bells and other large fruited annuums require a pretty large container, imho. Any time I've tried them in 5 gal buckets, the first few pods are decent size but every pod after the initial flush is stunted.

    Kevin

  • wolfridgeil
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the response. This plant was intended to be planted in the ground in 3-4 weeks. I don't think it is over-watered. In fact i try to keep my plants on the dry side. But it has had some inconsistent moisture levels just recently. I noticed this one was droopy and watered it moderately. It perked up overnite and the next day I noticed this issue. Like I say the plant is (at least now) not over-watered. The weight of the container/plant itself feels pretty light. I have an 8-bulb T5 VHO light fixture and it will get the soil temp up to about 100 F so I have a floor fan linked into the timer to provide a cooling drying breeze. It probably got too dry and perhaps the sudden onset of available water caused this issue. I did not think it could be fungal in nature - my basement is like 20% RH. Thanks for the feedback. Have never heard of edema so I'll look into it. If you have any good links I'd benefit to read about edema.

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Just a guess, but I think it's your light setup. You may not be overwatering but when you do, the plant is trying to take up all that water QUICKLY because of the high temps and low humidity-- 100F is just way to high.

    4 weeks? Why? Zone 10?

    Kevin

  • jean001a
    9 years ago

    Edema.
    Plant doesn't have to be overwatered to have it.

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