Well, I'm guessing. But I think your argument is well reasoned.

It could be that your leaves have a relatively short life due to an endemic disease. That isn't so bad if the plant can keep growing new foliage. So it could be something that you can live with.

BTW, there seems to be some residue at the bottom of the picture that has fallen from the leaf. I don't think a fungal disease would do that. Try looking (and photographing) closer. It could be a pest.

Dennis

See the holes at the point of the leaves, that often happens with aphids, and the white specks are probably aphids. Well if that many you have a serious infection! It's probably table salt! (LOL) The leaf was sucked dry of fluids.
Fungal infections have more discoloration, not that much here.

Dennis made a good observation: PEST is a strong possibility.
I see a dusty area on the leaves too. Drew also make another good observation.
So this can be a better news than fungus .

Seysonn

White spots are nothing to do with the leaf, they are part of the background I shot the photo on. I'm also wondering if the dusty area on the leaves is just the reflection from the light I shot with.

The plant does continue to put out foliage, but it's all pretty shriveled and unhealthy looking from the start.

If this is pest-related, are there any ideas on what exactly it might be? We do have aphids here, but I've never seen them on any of my pepper plants; they tend to congregate on the beans.

I've included a closer crop of another shot of the same leaf in case it helps. Thanks for the replies.

C

Look with a magnifying class. I think aphids eggs.
Can you scrape the white stuff with your finger nail (Or something else) ?
You might also have some nutrition deficiency, like Mag.

If I were you I would spray the plant with Neem Oil spray. It is harmless, works on pest and bacteria too.

Seysonn

white stuff is just the reflection from the light off of the leaf. No actual white stuff on the leaf. Not sure I will find neem oil in country, but we do have lots of neem trees. I've been boiling the leaves and seeds and spraying the neem-water on beans which seems to work alright. Making the oil myself is a little beyond my ability.

Drew made the point above that the misshapenness of the leaves could be due to something sucking the fluids out of the leaves. Can anyone confirm this is a likelihood?

> "Can anyone confirm this is a likelihood?"

Not without evidence. Krinkly leaves can be the result of pests or nutrient problems.

Lots more to describe too. What type of pepper? How old? In pot or in ground? More than one pepper plant? Are others similarly affected? Pics of the plant and especially of the growing tips?

Can you give us an ingredient list of the fertilizer that you're using? Do you have access to epsom salts?

Dennis

Peppers I'm growing are Cayenne, Jalapeno, Anaheim, Hungarian Wax, and Padron. They are in the ground and about 6 months old (though I think temperature here tends to slow growth) I've got about 10 plants in a row��"the only thing left in my garden as we move into dry season. All of them are exhibiting these symptoms to one degree or another.

I have no idea what's in the fertilizer. It came in an unmarked bag and is composed of white pellets that I was told to apply and water into the soil. I was told it is a general-purpose vegetable fertilizer. Bought it from an agro-input store in town. If a nutrient deficiency is suspected, I may be able to get a more specific fertilizer, just requires a longer trip down to Kampala. Can also probably get epsom salt there.

Another cayenne plant.

Jalapeno.

Bonus: The same problem on tomatillos? These are planted quite a distance from the peppers, but seem to be suffering a similar problem.

Ok, looking at some of my more recent pepper plantings in a nearby location, I'm not seeing any of these symptoms. I haven't used this particular fertilizer on any of them, so my new hypothesis is that perhaps it is a nutrient deficiency in the problem plants caused by an excess of one nutrient or another in the fertilizer I'm using.

Perhaps heavy rainfall leached too many good nutrients out of the soil, leading the plants to appear deficient. I responded by applying this fertilizer, only making the problem worse. Perhaps the answer is to lay off the fertilizer for awhile and see if things improve.

Anyone have any additional thoughts?

It does indeed look like a nutrient problem, but whether it is the soil or the fertilizer is hard to tell. Yes, I would back off on the mystery fertilizer or ditch it entirely. Since the plants are in-ground, I find it hard to believe that heavy rain would leach nutrients to the extent that plants won't grow well. Were that true, how would be ever get jungle?

Keep us updated, please.

Dennis

I have quite a few pepper plants that had the shriveled new growth over the course of the summer. Never found out what it was but those plants died a slow death. Looks exactly like what you have going on there. I tried epsom salts and fish emulsion as it is natural and still had this problem.

Christofer, I spent several years gardening over in Kisumu, Kenya, and tried 10 or so varieties of peppers from the US. A disaster. We were right on the lake shore, I don't know how high up you are, as you know the climate changes pretty quickly with altitude.

Its not easy - :)

We ended up asking around the market and bought peppers that did well in the area, when to plant, then used those seeds and followed that advice. We were able to do pretty well with these.

From the looks of your pics, there's a whole host of things going on, I'd guess that your plants are just not adapted to the growing environment. Once the rainy season starts, all bets are off.

Ok, new update for anyone still reading. For most of the plants that have this problem, when I harvested the fruits, they had reasonably healthy looking leaves start growing again.

Any ideas on what this means for nutrient deficiency and fertilization?

I've also got my hands on some Epsom salt should I try fertilizing with that?