Pappy Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 In the past I have had lots of peppers. Usually the deer eat the tops of the plants off but they come back with a vengeance and give me lots of peppers. Last year though the fawns decided to eat the whole plant right as they were just starting flowering. Now this year since the fence has gone up the deer haven't had an easy meal but something else is damaging them. They were healthy not long ago and then all of the sudden the leaves started to shrivel and the centers wither up and die. We have looked and do not see any insects of any sort. I did see a small orange fly there today. I am wondering if it is fungus of some sort. Any help for next years crop would be appreciated because I fear this years is a bust. The tomatoes are doing great though. In the pics you can see some have healthy leaves and leaves that looked wilted. Then other plants look as though they have been trimmed almost to the stem.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 You can get diseases/viruses in the soil from nutrient deficiencies that will show up in the leaves. Have you had a Penn State soil test done in the last two years? Unbalanced fertilization can go on for years without a problem then suddenly start making its presence known. Is there anything different about your soil this summer? Different kind of peppers, is the soil wetter or drier? Pull off a leaf showing serious damage. If you have a magnifying glass or a microscope then turn the leaf over and look carefully at the back. The insect shown may be there to eat aphids or fungi, hard to see with the naked eye. Sometimes they are there because of a problem, not because they are the problem. If you go down through the link included, you should be able to make a pretty good guess on what might be the problem. http://extension.psu.edu/plant-disease-factsheets/all-fact-sheets/diagnosing-poor-plant-health Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearfoot Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I had the same thing on only some of the sweet pepper plants. I sprayed them with a fungicide and alls well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeman Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 My pepper plants are not doing very good this year, I don't know whats wrong. :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Some of that is obviously deer (or groundhog) damage. Picture two especially looks like it has been eaten off. You are lucky. Once they eat mine off that is it. The fly is probably pepper maggot fly. It doesn't harm the leaves but will mess up your peppers. It lays eggs in the peppers and the maggots do what maggots do. The peppers will rot and get prematurely ripe. The peppers probably have some sort of wilt, either viral or bacterial. Both verticillium and fusariam wilt are common in peppers. Could be a fungus, too. You are not going to be able to see any of these organisms. Usually you will get lesions with a fungus and you might see those. Dark depressions normally. You might track it down but once these things start they are difficult to cure. There are sprays for wilts and fungi. I use a product called Ortho Disease Control that covers a lot of different problems. Insects can carry bacteria and stuff from one plant to another. So you might want to spray for the flies as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 No deer or groundhog damage I have a fence around the garden plus I have no groundhogs in the area. It does look like something ate it but I don't think so because they started out wilting and progressed to this stage. I figured the fly was just taking a breather and landed there to rest but thought I would take a pic anyway. I was thinking some kind of root fungi or virus. Thought I would get others opinion and see if they have had this happen. Mostly sweet peppers are affected. The other thing I failed to mention is the peppers on some of these plants are mushy as well and wilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nubbs Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Man that sucks! Fresh home grown peppers are delicious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old farm boy Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 No deer or groundhog damage I have a fence around the garden plus I have no groundhogs in the area. It does look like something ate it but I don't think so because they started out wilting and progressed to this stage. I figured the fly was just taking a breather and landed there to rest but thought I would take a pic anyway. I was thinking some kind of root fungi or virus. Thought I would get others opinion and see if they have had this happen. Mostly sweet peppers are affected. The other thing I failed to mention is the peppers on some of these plants are mushy as well and wilting. How high is the fence? Deer can easily jump over a 5-7 foot high fence. The best deer fence I've seen is 6 foot high, with another section on top angled outward...but it's expensive!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 yes they can but they haven't been in the garden. I did find out the wife cut a couple of the plants down to see if they would grow again but not all of them. The deer would have ate all the pepper plants(I think there was 145 LOL)also and leave some tracks when they were in it but there were no tracks. Now a rabbit may have had lunch on one or two possible but most of the plants are wilting and all other vegetables in garden have not been eaten. I am looking into root rot or curling leaves as some show this but I do not have any yellow leaves so I'm leaning to a root problem. Thanks for all the input by everyone. I will try some of lavenders, petees, and bearfoots suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I've got a fence that is at least 7 feet and the deer still jump it. They ate off my beans and left behind hoof prints. If deer can thumb their noses this one does. Look for worms in the peppers. Those flies (if they are what I think they are) will lay eggs on the peppers and they will get mushy as the larvae hatch and start eating the pepper. Bacteria gets in and the peppers rot. Almost any kind of virus or blight will leave a mark on the leaves. Your leaf margins will get brown or black spots will appear on the leaves. When squash plants do what your peppers are doing it's usually squash borer which gets into the stem at ground level. With broccoli its cabbage wire worm or nematodes. The plants just wilt and die because the roots can't take up water. Cucumbers too but I've never had it happen with peppers. You could try digging one up and checking the roots. Look for worms or mushy root tissue or anything weird with the roots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 How about Phytophthora blight? It is one cause of dampening off in seedlings but it apparently can get mature plants as well. Makes the plant wilt and the fruit rot. Can affect the crown of the plant as well turning it black. A blackened area can form at the soil line. Never had this one. Hope I never do. http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/plantpath/extension/fact_sheets/Pepper_-_Phytophthora_blight.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Im gonna pull a couple of the plants and check out the roots tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Mungaknuts Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I have had seeds in since March and still don't have blossom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 If you want to bag up a plant, roots and all, you can get a free Penn State diagnosis by dropping it off at one of the Cooperative Extension offices. That woud be Clearfield or Brookville locally. It's free and they will send it to the State College lab for an accurate analysis. No guessing. That would have to be a zip lock bag, tightly sealed. 511 Spruce Street Suite 4 Clearfield, PA 16830 814-765-7878 180 Main Street Parker P Blood Block Brookville, PA 15825-1234 (814) 849-7361/100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks Petee I may just do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Penn State is a land grant college which was started for agriculture. Use it, it belongs to you, the gardener and farmer. Good luck, and when you get a diagnosis, if you need more info, then contact the Jefferson County Master Gardeners. We have a lot of information on building good healthy soil so your plants are better able to stay healthy using their own immune system. This is a free service for everyone! Please use it. We need the questions and diagnosis challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 I will update you on the diagnosis. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 What's the latest on the peppers? Mine are great this year. Got some special local heirlooms from the kids at the Middle School. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Please let us know what they say so we know too if we see the problem again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Didn't get a chance on friday to take them in. I will try tomorrow as I will be up early. Although i just some others that arent wilted yet and they look like they have the blight. So my pepper yield will not be so good this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Penn State was asking that cases of late blight be reported so you will put Clearfield or whatever county on the map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Update I just got my results back from Penn State and my pepper plants have Broad Mites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitter Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 ewwwww!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in340 Apparently this insect is brought in from the greenhouse so you may want to tell whoever you bought it from that they need to check for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 You have my sympathy. Having tried to get rid of spider mites (nasty little devils!) I think I'd just give up on the peppers. You'll need a miticide if you want to go after them. Most insecticides aren't useful on mites. Or you could try horticultural oil or an insecticidal soap. They smother them but you have to hit each one. The good news is that they won't come back next year as they can't take our winters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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