Any weed killer been used in the area?

Are you growing in pots or in the ground?

Are the in the ground, or in pots? If they're containerized, how close to being potbound are they? (I don't think it came from being pot bound, but a knock-on effect of it)

I used to think I could grow a tree in a shot glass if I fertilized it enough. I was wrong.

It's growing in the ground. It's highly unlikely that it's been exposed to weed killer. My ph is on the high side usuallly around 7.4. I have been amending with sulphur and using a little peat moss in the planting holes for the last few years but I'll bet it's still around 7.0 at best. All of my peppers get this every year I've just never been able to figure out what it is.

Excess nitrogen and aphids

Do a google search for Pepper leaf curl virus, the picture you posted looks like the ones I found.

In absence of pests, I would suspect your plants may have it.

It was said: "It's highly unlikely that it's been exposed to weed killer. "

Why is that? The stuff can come in on the slightest breeze.

And when one says "highly unlikely" it makes me think that it could be possible.

Beyond that, I didn't find much for "Pepper leaf curl virus" in fact, the one reference was to a problem in Asia.

So, have you talked to the folks at your county's Extension Service? They're likely to know what are the common pepper problems in your region.

I just did a search on Pepper leaf virus unites states and found several articles on it.

Seems it was found in AZ last year.

Regardless, it doesnt hurt to take precautions when triming, harvesting or working with your plants. I grow orchids and am in the habit of sterilizing my knives everytime I move to a new plant.

Since the virus is in the US. It sure would not hurt to play it safe.

That said, I have a tree that gets curled leaves every spring as they emerge. They get aphids. Later in the season when the lady bugs take them down, the leaves grow normally.

I'm leaning towards aphids also. I sprayed with liquid seaweed this weekend. We'll see if that helps. I keep looking for lady bugs in the garden but I haven't seen any this year.

Mine get this too! And it does seem to effect the production. They still fruit, but they are smaller. I have a question about the weed killer, I live in the country and my neighbors across the street run a lawn service and their yard looks like a golf course. But they are at least 400-500 feet away. Could this still effect my peppers and if so, what can I do about it/ I can make them stop using weed killer.

I'm getting the same in my peppers which are in containers here on the other side of the Atlantic! I thought it was due to spraying the leaves with a dilute solution of dish soap (to keep insects at bay).

Has anyone tried anything which helps?

Joseph
z10

Two of my Habs are doing this and they are growing in two different mediums. One is in a raised bed and the other in a pot as I ran out of room. Both are producing VERY well for me. As I'm a complete noob I offer only that it might not be the soil.

Excessive nitrogen fertilizer causes that

BACK off of the mirical grow

It looks very much like overfeeding to me, too.

Have you found the solution? My patch looks like this as well. I had a heavy aphid infestation before. The ladybugs has arrived, but now all of my pepper leafs curl just like your picture. 2 of my plants has lost all of its fruits and flowers, and the leaf looks somewhat brownish. I wonder if it is caused by the aphids bites or something even more sinister.

I have a question:

Should I remove all the infected leaves and branches so the virus won't spread?

I have had symptoms such as that from using too much fertilizer (too strong of dose that is), and from leaving my plants out in cold temperatures. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the leaves of my peppers seem to grow out deformed after extreme cold exposure (just above freezing), existing leaves are not effected. In both cases the plants began growing normal leaves a short time after.

I agree that it might be to much nitrogen. I fed mine a couple of weeks ago and guessed, did not measure the amount, I sprinkled around each some got a little more some a little less but one I gave way to much didn't realize the amount I had left in my hand and the leaves curled all up like that. good news is after awhile it will go away mine is
Angel

hope they are doing okay by now, what i had found was it was a difficiency, bonemeal. peppers are extremely heavy feeders. once i treated them to a little (careful with application not to get near stalk once they are planted, best if you work it into the soil prior to planting) they were very happy and cranking out pretty flat leaves (next set after feeding) and lots of peppers. this went for my hots and my sweets and in betweens.

Thanks for the pictures of the pepper leaf curl and the suggestions.I did use Miracle Grow when I planted them but could this really be the cause? On top of the leaf curl I have tiny black bugs that are eating through the leaves and the edges. I've grown chilis for years and haven't had this problem previously. Should I give up for the season already? Thanks for any suggestions.

Snappybob, I have the same problem and on a few of the plant I have its very bad. I am growing 25 plants total a mix of serrano jalapino and sweet bell peppers (excuse the spelling) I have been trying to isolate the problem. This is my observation. I have most of the plants in raised beds with alot of organic mix, you may have heard about the lazagna layering where you put compost material and grow in that, well I have a high amount of wood and sphagnum peat moss which is acid, I have not tested the ph. At the beginning of the season after I had planted my keepers I had 4 left and did not have the heart to kill them so I just on a whim planted them in a wall of cinderblocks I had built for my asparagus. Now the cinderblock leach out lime. well those 4 extra throw aways are doing super great, they have NO leaf curl or new growth that is crinkled. They have already given me big health peppers. So the post by smokemaster is making alot of sence to me. I used the same exact ferts for all of them including the ones in the cinderblocks. The one thing we have in common is the peat moss. The ones I have in the cinderblocks the soil does not have peat moss just wood compost and sandy loam. I have been told by many different growers on different forums that peat moss is a bad idea and I have others disagree so I am on the fence. I know this may not help I am to new to growing veggies, but I had to chime in. I hope you can fix your problem, if it does reverse itself please post back with the methods you took. Thanks and good luck Deanna

This is my first try at peppers and upon inspection I've found some tiny insects that seem to be eating the new leaves(and old ones too),causing them to curl.I've also had holes eaten in new fruit as well.I've released ladybugs twice now.Before that I sprayed w/Ortho Vegetable plant insect killer(waiting 7days between aps).I'm thinking of trying the soapy water spray.I've also seen tiny slime tracks(cutworms?)at the base and under the pots.
I live in OrangeCounty California.It's a battle.

Your Caribbean red looks healthy in the picture, minus the wrinkling. I sometimes have the same problem with the exact plant. I have 10 of them, plus 12 ghost peppers, plus 8 chocolate habas, and a few more different varieties of hot pepper plants. All and All I have over 70 hot pepper plants and have been growing for nine years and even crossed a few species. "NO" it is not a bug problem. Over the years growing hot peppers plants, I have noticed a few things that affect my plants. (1) How hot is it where you live? When a plant grows new leaves at night then gets hammered by very hot days of 100 degrees or hotter like in Texas the structure of the leaves deform especially with little humidity. The cell walls harden before they can fully develop. When I control the sun�s contact everything goes back to normal. People have the idea the more sun the better. That�s "BS" when I control the temperature in my green house below 98 degrees and the sun�s contact my plants get huge. Last year my ghost peppers got over eight feet tall and produced around 100 pounds of product. "Think about it" plants thrive in their habitats� "specific soil, Temperature, humidity, PH, and rain". If you plant them in the ground and did nothing to help them, they would be dead in no time, unless they are native to that area or live in same environment. (2) PH can affect them. Try to save rain water. (3) Try to stay away from over fertilizing them and over watering them. When you do excessive watering your plants will stop absorbing nutrients and they will stop growing roots, keeping them smaller in size. They need to dry out a bit to absorb oxygen unless you are doing hydroponics. I only fertilize around 4 � 5 times a season.

I do not believe the leaf curling is due to Thrips. Like Dave above, I live and grow chilis in Orange County, CA. My best advice is to use the epsom salts (magnesium) in small amounts. This year, my plants are better than the last few years. I also add small amounts of nitrogen (in contrary to other advice here) and find that the curling goes away.

Hope this helps,

Calcium deficiency. Treat with Cal-Mag and some additional epsom salt. Mg will help with the uptake of Calcium and other nutrients.

I have this issue and think it may be broad mites. I have found a few pictures of peppers with a downward leaf curl, almost a clawing I would describe it as.. I have also dropped a link to the post I found excellent photos in..

-Mike

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Here is a link that might be useful: Images of broad mite damage on hot peppers (Scroll down to see images)