You are looking forward to your first pepperoni harvest, but suddenly your plant makes a bad impression? Maybe she's suffering from an illness. Or have you neglected an important aspect of care? Here's how to spot diseases and nurture your peppers back to health.
Leaf discoloration is a sign of disease
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symptoms of an illness
- mottled leaves
- Leaves deform
- leaves are fading
- increased leaf shedding
- death of the entire plant
Possible diseases
Actually, the pepperoni is a very resistant plant. Nevertheless, there are some diseases and, above all, even more pests that damage your crop:
- Alfalfa mosaic virus
- isopods
- damping-off or damping-off
- aphids
- Chili veinal mottle virus
- Powdery mildew and downy mildew
- frost moth
- Fusarium wilt
- cucumber mosaic virus
- Potato Y virus
- Pepper mottle virus
- rust disease
- Red Spiders
- beet leaf curl
- snails
- weevil
- tobacco etching virus
- Tobacco Mosaic Virus
- fungus gnats
- thrips
- Verticillium wilt disease
- white bow tie
prevention
If you catch a disease early, there is a good chance you can nurse your peppers back to health. With these measures it is guaranteed to succeed:
- Spray the plant in spring
- do not keep the greenhouse too sterile (otherwise it creates wonderful breeding grounds for parasites)
- attract natural enemies (ladybugs, spiders, etc.)
- Always clean garden shears well
tips
If the outside temperatures approach freezing point, you will inevitably have to bring your peppers into a warm place. Use this time to examine your plants extensively for pest infestation. If you discover a disease in one of your specimens, you should use appropriate means and store the plant separately until the symptoms have completely receded.
It is also important not to carelessly dispose of an infested pepper in the compost so that the parasite does not spread. Use special organic garbage bags for this.
Rescue is not always possible
Unfortunately, there is not (yet) a suitable remedy for every disease. In this case, you should not invest money in reconstruction. Sowing or buying a new plant is then definitely more worthwhile.
Illness or caregiving?
Just because your peppers look bad, like yellow leaves, doesn't mean you should worry about illness. Sometimes it's very simple care mistakes that cause the appearance. Luckily, once they are discovered, they can be fixed quickly. Possible are
- wrong watering
- too little light
- waterlogging
- too cold temperatures