What’s wrong with these pepper plants ?

[BackwoodsBoy]

Sweet banana and bell peppers , grown in a raised bed , tomato plants in the same bed are healthy and already bearing fruit . No issues in the rest of my garden but the pepper plants look horrible , I watered liberally today

They just are weak looking and keep loosing leaves , I planted from seedlings and they were much healthier prior to planting

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[dralarms]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

If that's mulch around the plants you might want to move it. Some plants can't take the chemicals released from mulch. Saw it almost kill a beautiful muscadine vine once

 

[Cutover]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

Put one tablespoon of epsom salt in one gallon of water,shake well and pour around roots and over leaves. Peppers need the magnesium in the epsom salt.

 

[WTM]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

by the looks of the leaves on the ground, probably 1 of 3 things: fungus, aphids or bacterial leaf spot. aphids will be on the undersides of the leaves, they chew the leaves and excrete honeydew. spray with insecticidal soap. most fungus is splashed on the leaves from the ground soil or from uneven watering. if thats the case, a fungicide will help along with wheat straw mulch to keep moisture even. if its bacterial leaf spot, your pretty much screwed as there is no cure. the cause is usually infected seeds or infected soil. that mulch or burned looking plant matter could be the culprit. if it turns out to kill all of your plants i wouldnt plant tomatos or peppers in that spot for 5 years.

for fertilization, pepper reauire the same as tomatos and i use a product called tomato tone for both. it also has has calcium, magnesium and sulur so there is no need to use epsom salt or extra calcium. it also has microbials added to enhance soil nutrient uptake. if you are using regular fertilizer, make sure its 5-10-10 or 5-10-5.

 

[GMB54]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

Most peppers like a NPK ratio of 3-1-2. So for instance 9-3-6 is fine but you dont really need that much nitrogen (usually). Using too much phosphorus will have a negative impact on soil biology. The good microbes and fungus wont like it. The same goes for too much sulfur. It will upset the healthy soil biology and lower pH also.

If you want a good source of calcium that is fast acting and cheap look at calcium nitrate but use it sparingly. Its about 15% nitrogen and around 19% water soluble calcium. About a tsp per gallon is plenty. Many places carry this brand for about $6/4lb bag which should last for ages if just used for the calcium.

Now im not huge into organics but i got to say fish emulsion, worm castings and alfalfa meal or alfalfa pellets for horses are a stellar fertilizer combination. Kelp meal is also extremely good but the cost is down right stupid. Alaska fish and kelp pellets for veggies is another excellent lower cost fertilizer with a healthy amount of calcium. Its not real cheap but cheap enough for smaller gardens and container gardening. Pretty much all of the Jobe's Organics products have the microbes added and a good amount of calcium too. If you have good amount of aged compost/organic matter in your soil though adding more microbes isnt going to do much.

Fresh hardwood mulch also depletes nitrogen as it composts in the soil. You are better off using wheat straw. NOT HAY. Places like Lowes sell a straw called EZ Straw. Its already cut to smaller lengths and packed in a large bag.

The pic really isnt good enough to tell what is going on. The main thing i can see is a leaf that looks like it was cut buy a caterpillar and some minor leaf curling. The first thing i would do is look under the leaves and check for aphids. If you got them, Neem oil is a great safe pesticide.

 

[BackwoodsBoy]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

The "mulch" is just leftover tomato stems from last year. I have not observed any aphids on the plants, I will try a fungicide.

I have another raised bed near by that has hot banana and jalapeños in it and they are fine.

Thanks for the tips, I think y'all are on the right track, it may be a soil issue

 

[WTM]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

yeah you never want to leave tomato, pepper or squash plants in the garden or even mulch them, trash them. too easy to spread diseases from one year to the next. i always do a cleanup in the fall and plant cover crops. in raised beds, you can cover them with wheat straw after adding additional compost if needed. it will keep the weeds out and ready to plant in the spring. if its a fungus you can solarize your beds with plastic sheeting for 4-6 weeks before planting, and it will kill fungi.

 

[Chapman]

Re: What's wrong with these pepper plants ?

I agree with getting rid of the old plants after harvest. Don't put them in the compost pile either.